


Moonlight on Earth

by CyberRibbon96



Series: Earth & Moon [1]
Category: DuckTales (Cartoon 2017), Mystereobot/Don't Worry Teri Blokhin
Genre: AU, Della Never Took the Spear AU, Explicit Sexual Content, F/F, F/M, Good Guy Lunaris!, M/M, Moonlander age adjustments, Moonlander raised on Earth, Multi, OCs - Freeform, OOCness, Other, Slash/Femslash, Violence, cursing, polyamorous
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-06
Updated: 2019-11-11
Packaged: 2020-11-25 21:33:56
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 36,530
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20918969
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CyberRibbon96/pseuds/CyberRibbon96
Summary: All her life, Crescena has known she's part of the McDuck/Duck family and has never doubted her family's love for her. However, she's never known what she is...until now.





	1. Family Comes in All Varieties

It always seems that in the grand scheme of things, the silence is always broken with a crescendo. So, it was no surprise that on this sunny but cool day in September, in the seemingly peaceful McDuck Manor, the relaxing atmosphere that wafted throughout its halls was about to meet its end-

_CRASH!_

And there it was.

“Dewey!” a garbled male voice screeched in alarm and agitation.

“It was Huey’s fault!” the middle brother quickly yelled.

“Liar!” the eldest of the trio cried out indignantly as he flew down the stairs, Louie right behind him with an annoyed look on his face from his older brothers’ quarreling. “You’re the one who was running in the hall!”

“Yeah, but you came after me so you could have caught the vase!” the blue-clothed duckling said defensively.

“Oh, so I’m suppose to be there to catch everything you drop or knock over?” the red-clothed duckling inquired sharply at his smug-looking counterpart.

“Oh boy, it’s gonna be another one of those days,” the green-clothed duckling sighed as he sidled up to his mother who only arrived on the scene seconds ago, smiling as she patted his head.

“Boys, stop fighting and go clean up the vase, please,” the Della said in a gentle and firm tone.

“Yes, Mom,” both obliged as they turned to go back up the stairs.

“And hurry up! Don’t want your breakfast getting cold,” Donald added up to them. “And grab Crescena too!”

“What is for breakfast today anyway?” Louie asked curiously as he, his mother, and his uncle ventured down the stairs.

His question was answered when Webby popped up beside them as they made their way to the dining hall, “Well, since it’s still kind of summer but autumn’s just around the corner, we decided on oatmeal chocolate chip raspberry waffles!”

Immediately, the youngest of the Duck brothers smiled as he said, “Sweet! Cress will love that.”

While the Duck matriarch looked excited as well, her twin quickly asked with curiosity, “Where did you guys get raspberries from? I went to the grocery store last night and they were all out.”

“Who needs grocery store produce when Lena and I have mastered horticultural spells!” the female duckling chirped happily.

“Is that safe?” the sailor-suited drake asked worriedly.

“Well, it’s more organic than the raspberries at any supermarket,” the bubble-gum clothed young girl insisted with a smile.

“I’d take organic, magically-grown raspberries over boring, store-bought raspberries at any time,” the mother of triplets said before lightly punching her brother in the arm. “Lighten up, Don. One would think you would approve with how health conscious you are about what the kids eat. Besides, it’s not like it’s the _first _time we’ve eaten food obtained through magic.”

The short-tempered duck gave a light sigh as he followed the two ducklings and his sister to the dining room while mumbling, “Mother of four and still a risk-taker.”

* * *

“Hey, you realize that Crescena’s turning the big two-oh next month, right?” Dewey asked as he and his older brother walked down the hall.

“Why do you think I was up all night? I’ve been trying to come up with a new birthday party/gift idea!” Huey replied as they arrived at a door that was painted a light candy apple red with butterscotch-colored marigolds and rabbits hand-painted in the center and small hanging sign that read in neat cursive; _Crescena’s Room-Please Knock_.

“Got any?” the adventurous brother of the triplets asked hopefully.

The organized brother shook his head, “Not any solid ones yet. And there are still others to brainstorm about. What about you and Louie?”

“All we have is Harvest and Halloween theme. And the girls have Day of the Dead, Celtic, and wiccan theme ideas,” the middle brother shrugged apologetically and helplessly at his slightly older sibling.

“We’ll get together later today and talk it over,” the eldest brother reassured before knocking at the door. “Hey, Cress! It’s breakfast time! We can only secure your plate for so long before someone gets tempted!”

Inside the room, the walls were a warm bumblebee yellow and the carpet was a pale grayish-blue, more blue than gray to be honest, the room itself was a nice sizable space. There was a bed with soft creamy lilac sheets and a wine-colored blanket and pillows to match as well as a few stuffed animals at the end of the bed, half of them looking to be based on myth. On the left-hand side of the bed was a medium-sized bookshelf and lampstand whilst the right-hand side had a rather large window with cinnamon-colored curtains and a sage-colored cushioned window seat.

Across from the bed was a medium desk and vanity combo, the whole thing being decorated with trinkets, electronics, and other items. The left side of the wall it was against had a corkboard filled with pictures, drawings, and other paraphernalia that could be pinned to it. The right side held a door to a sizable closet while the rest of the room and its walls were decorated with posters and other miscellaneous objects. Of course, the person whom the room belonged to, was currently at the window seat, staring out at slightly cloudy sky above and the large garden below.

If one were to look at the occupant of the room, they would be shocked by the appearance of the family member known as Crescena (Cress or Cressie as she was nicknamed by her family). One could tell she was adopted, though it was more apparent than either Webby or Lena as both young female ducklings were the same species as the homeowner of the manor. Crescena was…quite literally something else. This wasn’t to say she was unattractive, in fact she was quite a sight despite her oddities. But rather she was…unusual compared to the rest of the inhabitants of Duckburg, or the rest of Earth to be honest.

For one thing, she was blue, a sort of medium darkish Lapis blue to be specific, which wouldn’t be a strange color if she was an amphibian, lizard, or bird anthro from the tropical and exotic regions of the world. But she was neither that. As a matter of fact, she was not any kind of race or species one would find on Earth. Not pig, canine, bear, or even some simian-related creature. Her skin was immaculately smooth and free of feathers, fur, and scales. However, she did have a full head of thick, long, and wavy hair that was redder than any cherry or berry, almost like a ruby in the fading light of dusk, reaching to graze just above the small of her back.

She was taller than most of the members in her family though she still fell very short when it came to individuals like Launchpad and Storkules. Being a young woman, almost twenty, she had curves that gave her a beautiful, slender frame. She had no snout, beak, or visible nose either. Her eyes were a mesmerizing shade of soft cornflower blue but that’s just it…they were blue. Entirely blue, like a cloudless sky. There was no sclera but she did have a dot of porcelain white in each eye that seemed to serve as pupils, evident by how the followed a falling leaf here or a darting, non-anthro bird there. Other unusual characteristics was that she had three digits on each hand. She also lacked toes (which, considering that ducks had flippers and didn’t have toes either, it wasn’t that odd to her family).

Currently she wore a honey-colored balloon sleeve knitted sweater and peach-colored tights under a jean skirt. Her only piece of jewelry was a black velvet choker with silver moon charm with an opal in it. Upon turning hearing her brother’s voice, she turned her half-lidded orbs from the window to the sketch book she had in her lap before looking at the door. Quickly grabbing her sketchbook, as well as a few other things, she stuffed them into a plum-colored messenger bag dotted with sunflowers.

“I’m coming,” she piped up, as she snatched her phone and messenger bag before heading out of the door and joining her brothers in the hallway.

“What were you doing, huh?” the middle triplet goaded playfully. “Writing in your diary again?”

“I prefer to call it journaling,” Crescena said pridefully as she ruffled his head. “And no, you’re never gonna read it.”

Dewey seemed to be disappointed while Huey nodded with approval as he proudly stated, “Privacy is significant in this stage of adulthood.”

“Exactly,” the redhead nodded with confirmation before a playful smile stretched over her lips before she bolted past them. “Race you downstairs!”

“Hey, no fair!” the middle brother yelped in defiance as he and his slightly older counterpart bounded after her. “You’ve got long legs and an older-by-nearly-a-decade advantage!”

All they got in response was their sister’s victorious laugh.

* * *

“I still say we should go with the Harvest Moon idea!” Webby insisted as she sat beside Lena, alternating between looking at the list and eating her waffles. “It’s fun and grown up!”

“I still say Celtic or wiccan,” the slightly older female duckling insisted. “It’s cool and it has some aesthetic.”

“I would say we should mash them up but the last time we tried to make a hybrid of two different themes was when we tried to do a Luau and rodeo themed party for Uncle Donald three years ago,” Louie piped in, shivering as his eyes widened at the memory. “Never again.”

“Well, we still got a couple of weeks,” the retired agent’s granddaughter said as she put the notebook away and put all her focus on her breakfast. “We’ll talk about it more when we go meet Violet at the park later.”

The newest member of their little group was currently accompanying her parents to have brunch with her cousin who had temporarily come home from college to celebrate her birthday with her family, which included the intellectual young hummingbird herself. Their attention was drawn to the soon-to-be birthday girl, or birthday woman as Violet would correct, and the other two male ducklings who ran right behind her as they entered the dining room.

“No running,” Beakley, who was currently placing the last of the waffle filled plates onto the table, said in a firm but calm and gentle voice.

“Sorry, Gran. Good morning by the way,” Crescena said sincerely with a soft wince as she quickly sat down to breakfast, her seat being between her mother and uncle who she greeted with a kiss on the cheek. “Morning Mom, morning Uncle Donald.”

“Sorry, Mrs. B,” both oldest and middle duckling said as they mimicked their older sister and sat beside the youngest brother and two girls while also greeting their mother and uncle as well.

No sooner did they all sit down did the owner of the mansion and the patriarch of the family appeared, looking rather tired but smiled upon seeing his family.

“Good morning everyone,” he said good-naturedly as he sat at the ends of one of the tables.

“Good morning, Uncle Scrooge,” came the unified reply from everyone at the table, including the twin adult ducks but excluding Mrs. Beakley who only gave her friend and employer a friendly nod.

“So, what do you all have plan for today, hmm?” the CEO of McDuck Enterprises inquired.

“Got another set of students lined up for flight lessons,” the mother of four piped up. “Launchpad is suppose to be joining me but I haven’t seen him at all this morning.”

“I believe he said he was going to have breakfast with that new acquaintance of his,” Beakley stated in response. “A Mr. Drake Mallard.”

“The actor who was suppose to play Darkwing Duck?” Dewey inquired slightly incredulously. “I haven’t seen that guy before the movie was called off.”

“Well, when a veteran actor dies on set, it would be safer to make yourself scarce,” Huey added sternly while looking at his brother but not in a mean way. “Especially if you were there and witnessed it.”

When word got out about Jim Starling’s death, Huey, along with his Uncle Donald, feared Scrooge and Dewey would be blamed as it was the former who was funding it and the latter who changed things around. Thankfully, the anticipated mob of Darkwing Duck fans never came. In fact, it would seem that many had gotten over the former star’s death quite fast. Too fast, if someone were to ask Crescena. It was rather unnerving and bittersweet in her eyes.

“Well, I don’t want Launchpad bringing that man over to the mansion unless I, your mother, your Uncle Donald, or Mrs. Beakley are around,” the Scottish drake said with hard nod. “Don’t need to get roped into anymore maniac movie deals. Still trying to recover from all the damage and money that Mr. Boorswan wrangled me into.”

Wanting to steer the conversation back in the right direction before they delve anymore into a less than attractive subject, Donald piped up, “I’ve got a new job at the newspaper. Also, I got a new tenant coming to stay on the boat next month. Hopefully, they’ll be more pleasant than that Mortimer guy.”

Crescena felt herself shudder while more than half of the table nodded, recalling the unfriendly mouse who had been on the boat just days ago before being arrested upon discovery that he planned to sneak inside the mansion and steal a few antique objects. Thankfully, that was put to a stop before it began. Although the other adults and the kids all reassured the sailor-suited drake that it wasn’t his fault, the poor duck had spent the last few days apologizing and practically walking on eggshells around his uncle and the undauntable housekeeper.

“We’re meeting Violet at the park and then we’re heading to Funso’s Funzone,” Webby said, answering for herself, the triplets, and Lena.

“Just remember to not eat too much pizza,” the short-tempered duck cautioned.

“That won’t be a problem,” the air-craft loving twin reassured her brother. “I was with the kids at Funso’s last week and the pizza had pretty much downgraded since the chef quit to go back to New Stork.”

“She’s right,” Lena put in. “If we want pizza, now we just order from Papa Swan’s or Torre del Gusto. The only thing that Funso’s is good for now is arcade games and the occasional yogurt sundae bowl.”

“I’m telling you, we could probably make a better pizza,” the youngest of triplets piped up as he devoured half his waffles. “And that’s saying something because sometimes we have a tendency to burn things that involve the stove, toaster, microwave, or coffee pot.”

Whilst everyone either laughed or grinned sheepishly, the richest duck in Duckburg hummed as he scratched his chin with a thoughtful look, “Hmm, McDuck Pizza Parlor…”

“I will be spending the evening finishing a book while watching another show that a friend introduced me to,” the retired agent said in quiet and pleasant voice, no one the wiser that the show was far from the high-class aura that the British duck emanated. “And what about you, Crescena?”

The red-head, who had been consuming the delectable waffles while listening, looked up and answered in a friendly voice, “Well, after work I plan to ask Quackfaster if she wants to join me for coffee at the tree house.”

The place in question was a livable, cabin-like structure of tree house that was located in the forest nearby, having been built by a well-off couple who abandoned it thirty years prior. It had wooden stairs and a deck with enough room for a hammock while the inside included a few small pieces of furniture such as a small coffee table and wooden chairs left by the owners. There was also a counter and cabinets for storing non-perishable goods, first aids, tools, blankets, and other supplies. Although it lacked running water and electricity (the couple had apparently gone through a minimalist phase) it did have a durable fire pit and enough space for extra furniture. It had been entirely forgotten by the world as Crescena had discovered it under quite thick layer of vines, dead leaves, and dust during one of her then-rare outings in the woods. She had found out, through help from housing structure files and the internet, that no one cared to buy or even rent the tree house, forcing the real estate agency to give up on it entirely. Apparently, in a large cosmopolitan city like Duckburg, no one seemed to care for anything that was remotely non-urban.

However, Crescena saw the potential in it and quickly went to work fixing it as best as she could, adding a few touches of her own, including a few bean bag chairs, shelves, supplies of her own, some décor, and a cot and mattress that had been forgotten in the attic. Of course, the rest of her family found out, causing them to be impressed, proud, and a little concerned. Seeing as it was another step to her becoming an independent young woman, along with her promising to share the new hangout with her siblings, no qualms were made about it. Although her siblings rarely visited, preferring the Mansion, gardens, Funso’s and even the house boat for their get togethers, the blue-skinned woman never stopped going to hang out there. It was like second home to her, a place that held countless memories, good and bad. It was where she would go to relax when she didn’t have work the next day. It was where she went to have some alone time after their dear Duckworth passed away. Where she would now bring injured animals to nurse back to health. Where she recently had a relaxing day with the triplets, Webby, and her two new surrogate sister figures, Lena and Violet. And now, it’s where she brought Quackfaster whenever the archivist was on the verge of collapsing from aggravation and exhaustion.

“Quackfaster the Task Master?” the middle triplet asked in surprise, using the name he and his brother had been using since they were five. “Why?”

“Dewey, be nice,” the oldest duck said wisely but sternly. “Quackfaster is hard-working woman who deserves respect, like your mother, sister, and Mrs. Beakley.”

“Plus, she’s a pretty good boss,” Crescena added in a caring tone. “Despite her dramatic flare and her attitude, she can be nice.”

“Define nice,” Louie whispered jokingly to Lena which earned him a giggle from the slightly older female duckling but a ‘ahem’ and reprimanding look from both his mother and Uncle Donald.

“Well, I think that’s sweet,” the Duck matriarch nodded approvingly as she glanced at her uncle and British duck. “Who says employers and employees can’t be friends?”

“Ask my last boss’s husband,” the boat-owning twin muttered.

“Not to mention a little time away from a hectic environment is good for anyone,” the undauntable housekeeper put in.

“You and her have been working hard,” Scrooge nodded sympathetically at the eldest of his niece’s brood. “I even heard she’s taken up a job at the library.”

“You heard right. I don’t think it would be as hard on her if it wouldn’t for the people who turn the books in late or damage them in or out of the library,” Crescena sighed. “That’s why I prefer to buy my own books. Least I know who’s touching them.”

“Well, don’t get upset or worry too much if she says no,” the mother of four added. “Quackfaster is as prideful as she is clever. She may not like taking offered help from her employees unless it relates to work. Even if that employee is her boss’s great-niece.”

“Alright, Mom,” the red-head nodded.

“Speaking of help, do I detect a lack of a certain program's voice?” the new addition to the family inquired as she took a large bite of her waffles.

“Lena’s right. Tacca hasn’t said a peep,” the retired agent’s granddaughter stated worriedly. “Is she okay?”

“She’s fine,” Crescena said. “Just resting. I had her on late last night. Was feeling kind of fitful so I had her play music to help me get to sleep.”

“Is everything alright?” Beakley asked with concern.

“Everything’s fine. I think my brain was having trouble switching off,” the blue-skinned woman joked, hoping to ward off the concerned looks being thrown her way that made her cheeks take on the golden blush on her cheeks.

She felt relief when they all visibly relaxed and the eldest of the triplets proceeded to ask, “So, is anyone else going to watch the new NASA space travel experiment trial on live TV tonight? Violet, Louie, and I are gonna watch it.”

“Wait, Louie’s gonna watch it?” the blue-clothed brother asked in surprise as he looked at his younger brother.

“They bribed me with snacks,” the green-clothed brother shrugged.

“You know I am,” Della grinned.

“If I get off work early, I’ll join you guys,” Donald nodded sincerely with an encouraging smile.

“Might as well join,” the Scottish drake said with a nod. “Could be something worth investing in.”

Soon enough, the other three ducklings and the retired agent nodded in agreement before Crescena happily gave in, “Why not? I don’t go in until around Noon tomorrow. I’ve got time to spare. Especially for my baby brothers.”

All three of the boys blushed as the girls giggled before the richest duck in Duckburg spoke up, “Speaking of time, you better run along, lass.”

“You’re right!” the blue-skinned woman gasped upon looking at her phone before sipping the last of her orange juice, her waffles having long been devoured, before rushing around the table to kiss and hug each of her family members goodbye.

“Do you need me to drive you?” Della asked.

“It’s okay! I can make it there on time!” Crescena reassured before she then proceeded to rush out through the kitchen door, most likely to grab her prepared lunch from the fridge as well.

Once they heard the sound of said back door closing, Donald said in a soft tone with a bittersweet smile, “They grow up so fast.”

“Aye, they do,” the head of the family nodded, top hat never tipping. “One day, she’s gonna go out that door and she’ll be gone for more than a few hours or a day. We should cherish the time we have with her.”

As everyone nodded, the Duck matriarch squeezing her brother’s hand for comfort while the two older ducks shared a look of wise but solemn nod, the kids shared an intense look of worry and determination.

* * *

“And when you return that book on steam-power, you better bring it back with mark-free pages and a better attitude, Gyro Gearloose!” the sharp and no-nonsense voice of the Bin’s archivist rose with great warning as the head scientist in question was exiting her part of said Bin.

Unknown to her, Crescena gave Fenton a wave goodbye as both young adults held back cringes from overhearing their respective superiors and mentors fight. Since Quackfaster took on the extra job at the library, she had been notably more irritable and impatient. A week ago, when the Board of Directors came down, most likely to inspect and see what they could cut costs down on, Bradford had accidentally knocked over a cup of water on Quackfaster’s desk. It wouldn’t have been a big deal except it wasn’t only dissolving a tablet for Quackfaster’s exhaustion and headache but it also wet a specific file that she desperately needed for the day. It was one of the few times that the red-head ever saw the vultures show fear as the eccentric female duck dropped all theatrical courtesy and screamed at them while waving a battle axe. And it was one of the few times she ever felt sorry for the dour and demanding Bin directors. Of course, they dare not report her behavior to McDuck for fear of facing an a sleep-deprived _and _disgruntled ex-employee.

Then the day before yesterday, she had come back from lunch to find Fenton and Manny cowering in fear as Gyro and Quackfaster practically breathed fire at each other. Apparently, the book on geochemistry he borrowed from the library had several pages with pen marks. The archivist wasted no time in beginning a screeching tirade with the brilliant rooster. However, unlike the previous victims of her fatigue-induced tirades, the scientist who the adopted McDuck had known a couple of years before her brothers were would not allow submit so easily. It was only thanks to the appearance of her mother and uncles that the fighting ceased before it turned into anything worse. Despite his fierce business-man skills, the CEO had a heart of gold and sharp mind that kept him from firing both on the spot for quarreling like “scorned lovers” (Beakley’s words when she learned of the dispute). He had let them off with a warning each and left but not without checking on his niece and other two employees. The two had made a begrudging truce when the Scottish drake departed before sending the subordinates off to complete tasks.

Despite all of the hectic incidents at the Bin, Crescena could honestly say she wouldn’t trade them for anything, especially time with her mentor. Emily Quackfaster, for all her theatrics and unpredictable nature, was a decent superior and a good mentor. Nearly six years prior, the young red-head had wandered into the archives whilst Scrooge was in another tedious meeting with the criticizing vultures and began to organize a small shelf of books. The eccentric female duck was quite impressed which then led to the two exchanging conversation, namely about literature. By the end of the day, when Scrooge came to collect Crescena, Quackfaster had offered to take the girl under her as an intern and student with her boss’s permission to which he gladly gave. Over a year after that, Crescena became officially employed.

While her family was happy to have her working close by, they all knew that the day would come where she would need to seek new employment as well as a new residence. For too long, she had been hidden by her family, even when she was permitted out, she had to keep herself covered up. But in the recent two or three years, they slowly began to unveil her to public eyes which, thankfully, did not cause a panic but her looks did cause people to turn a few heads, mainly out of curiosity.

When her mind finally returned to the present as she asked, “Mrs. Quackfaster?”

Having calmed down by some amount, the archivist turned to the younger female with an inquisitive but non-hostile look, “Yes, Crescena?”

“Would you like to come with me to the tree house after work?” the blue-skinned young woman asked in a friendly voice. “I can grab us coffees or something to eat and we can chat. Or you can just relax before your shift at the library.”

The rare but not unfamiliar glimmer of warmth at Crescena’s proposal shone in the dramatic file keeper’s eyes but was quickly dashed with a sigh, “As tempting as it sounds, I’m afraid I can’t. Thanks to those hooligans at the college, I have several textbook and used book orders that need to be filled out. And I have a shipment of new computer technology coming to the library that I need to be present for. But perhaps next time.”

Hiding her disappointment, the red-head quickly nodded with a knowing smile as she said, “Alright, next time.”

Turning back to her desk, a scowl once again marred Quackfaster’s face, “Of course we’re out of highlighters. Darn vultures are going to make my whole filing system to collapse. Go ahead with those files while I go try and wrangle some highlighters from those tight wads.”

Crescena allowed herself to laugh as the archivist headed out the door before she began to attend to her task. While doing so, she felt a sad sigh that had building up escape her lips.

**“What’s wrong Crescena?”**

Slowly, she pulled out her phone to reveal that the screen had a purple frequency line and a word T.A.C.C.A. to which she asked back, “I’m sorry, Tacca. Can you repeat that?”

Therapeutic Artificial Caretaker Companion App, or Tacca, was a special program that Gyro had made for her when the boys had hatched. While she figured out that he wanted someone to try it out, the red-head also knew that, deep down, he did have a great sense of care for her other than being a personal physician and acquaintance. And Tacca had been a great help, acting as something of a homeschool counselor and diary.

**“What’s wrong?” **the calculative but curious feminine voice inquired. **“You seem troubled. Is it because of Quackfaster taking a rain check on your offer?”**

“No. I mean, kind of. I mean-!” Crescena struggled to get the words. “I just…I just don’t like feeling alone right now.”

**“Why is that? Do you feel neglected or scared?” **the program replied.

“No, nothing like that,” the blue-skinned young woman insisted. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I guess I’m trying to get in all the interaction I can with my family and friends because I know I’m gonna be alone for some time in the future when I move out of the manor.”

**“I thought you would be excited?” **the voice replied curiously but patiently as she always had.

“I am but I’m also just now realizing, that based on everything that’s happened, that I can’t just trust anybody,” Crescena explained carefully.

**“Go on,” **Tacca insisted.

“I’m not saying that I’m going to be afraid of the whole world or that I think all people are untrustworthy,” Crescena went on. “But I don’t want to depend on and trust in someone who could turn around and betray me or hurt my family. I don’t want to tell them, especially Mom or Uncle Scrooge, because I don’t want them to think that I’m not prepared or be disappointed in me for letting fear take over adventure.”

**“Crescena, you’re a young woman who, although has seen many places and people, has never done so without her family. It’s alright to be afraid of venturing into the world without people you’ve known since the day you were brought into this world and have been by your side all your life. And your family loves you and they will never stop loving you, no matter what you feel or what obstacles you’re facing,” **Tacca soothed.

A huge wave of relief washed over the red-head, cleansing her free of worry as she said, “You’re right. What was I thinking? I faced worst.”

Suddenly, a loud whirring sprung into the air around her.

“What the heck?” the blue-skinned woman murmured to herself in surprise.

**“What is it?” **Tacca asked, voice tinged with concern.

“Sounds like someone’s messing with the Go-Green 3D Printer,” Crescena sighed in slight annoyance. “Swear to Selene, if it’s one of the new secretaries, I’m going to be so mad.”

Making her way to the back of the archives, she yanked open the door to where the said printer (which was stored there after one of Scrooge’s business partner’s son tried to use it to make a copy of his recently confiscated car keys) was located. Opening the door, Crescena discovered…no one. No one was in the room. All she saw was the printer finishing the object it was creating. A golden crescent moon.

As it finished, the red-head picked up the plastic Moon, which was no bigger than her hand, before shaking her head and chuckling, causing Tacca to ask, **“What’s happened?”**

“Nothing happened. Everything’s fine,” Crescena reassured the program. “The printer is probably just on the fritz. Or someone is using an app. It is wireless after all. Though, I could have sworn we turned it off-”

She was interrupted when she heard a familiar intern’s voice call out, “Hello? Quackfaster? Crescena? Anyone here? We forgot to ask if we can have some bookmarks so Mr. Gearloose doesn’t bend the pages.”

“I’m here! Coming Fenton!” the blue-skinned young woman replied as she bolted out of the room.

She failed to see the shadowy crackle of a strange silhouette as the door closed behind her.


	2. When the Moon Comes Down

“Hurry! It’s about to start!” Huey cried eagerly as he hopped onto the sofa.

“Hold your horses lad! We’re going as quick as we can,” Scrooge chided though he had a smile on. “We can’t all be as fast as Hermes.”

“Not unless you have his sandals like Blue here!” Lena objected, pointing a thumb at Dewey as everyone began to take their seats, eyes falling on the TV which was currently showing another promo for ‘Ottoman Empire.’

As Louie took a seat next to his blue-clad brother, he huffed, “A whole day and still we haven’t thought up the perfect birthday theme.”

Sighing, Dewey nodded, “Yeah, it’s pretty hard to top off what we did last year.”

Last fall, the triplets and Webby had decided to give or do something for their sister every day based on the national days in October. National Cinnamon Bun Day had involved them making cinnamon rolls for breakfast for their big sister. National Do Something Nice Day had coincidentally fallen on one of her days off and all five had joined her for a quiet day at the tree house, just as they did when they were very little. And so on. Of course, they took Halloween off and were happily surprised when their sister, who had out grown trick-or-treating, accompanied them before they crashed in her room and fell asleep while watching horror movies after a long haul.

“We’ll find something,” Webby said encouragingly, overhearing the boys’ conversation as she sat in one of the bean-bag chairs she dragged out to sit with Violet and Lena.

Everyone soon found their way into the living room and squeezed onto the couch while others found their own seats in the form of the carpet or chairs that they brought over from other rooms. Alongside all the members of the manor’s family, Launchpad and Violet had also managed to make it. Despite the tiredness of the day in the eyes of Scrooge, Donald, and Della, all three were smiling as they sat with their family. Crescena, who had entered the last after changing into a more comfortable wardrobe of black leggings and an amber orange tank top, sat beside her red-clad little brother. She fought back laughter as she saw him stare intently as the screen with eager intensity, reminding her of when he was one-year-old toddled into her room while she and their Mom were making a baking soda volcano and his eyes bulged upon seeing the chemical reaction. Both females had gotten a good laugh at seeing him stare at it as though it was the greatest surprise and most miraculous thing in the world. From there, his interest in anything having to do with science, nature, and history had bloomed.

“Alright, let’s all settle down now,” Beakley said as she set the drinks and snacks, buttery popcorn and chocolate chip pecan cookies made from scratch, onto the table before sitting down in a wooden cushion chair she brought over.

No sooner did she say that did the TV screen change to feature none other than Roxanne Featherly who was standing in what looked like some sort of large lab combined with a plane hangar. There was a large arc-shaped machine with a space rover, not unlike the ones they sent to Mars, placed in front of it. Several people, some in white lab coats and others in NASA or military suits, stood in the background behind computer monitors or on the catwalks. There also seemed to be a few civilians present, based on a young male owl with an star-dotted T-shirt who was being shooed away by an irritable Roxanne after he had jumped in front of the camera.

Turning her attention back to the camera, her frustrated expression melted into her collected but enthusiastic look before she began to speak, _“This is Roxanne Featherly. I am here at the unveiling of NASA’s new space travel portal. With the aid of funding and resources from tech entrepreneur, Ambrose Kroe, space-jumping transportation has gone from comic books to real life, science that history won’t soon forget!”_

As she said this, a picture of a suave and confident looking rooster with honey blonde hair and pale sienna feathers appeared on screen, causing the Scottish drake, who sat in the middle of the sofa, to snort in disapproval, “A little humility never killed anyone.”

“I’d say the guy has tons to brag about,” the sailor-suited drake piped up reasonably from his spot on the sofa, between Louie and Dewey.

“Your Uncle Donald is right,” Violet insisted from her place on a lavender-colored bean bag. “Think about it. With technology like that, astronauts can not only explore space faster and more often but rocket ships building will be cut down which means more money for other branches and less space debris polluting the stars.”

“No more rocket ships?” Dewey whispered in shock, a look of sadness and horror painted onto his face, holding his head as though it would explode.

Quickly sensing the distress of her middle son, Della, who was between the blue-clothed triplet and the other sofa arm, placed a comforting hand on his shoulder and said gently, “Look at it this way kiddo; faster space travel means more space discoveries.”

At that, the adventurous triplet managed a hopeful smile and visibly relaxed while Featherly continued, _“After six months of careful testing and experiments, the scientists of NASA have succeeded in stabilizing and perfecting the process.”_

A video replaced the reporter’s face and the machine, splitting in two to show two different scenes. One side depicted the hangar with a group of scientists standing in front of a smaller version of the machine which depicted a pale indigo energy while the other showed another group outside the hangar in front of a wall. One of the scientists from the hangar group took up a controller and began moving a drone that had been on the table while another pulled up a walkie talkie. Simultaneously, a scientist from the outside group also pulled out a walkie talkie, no doubt conversing with the hangar group. Slowly, the drone made its way to the machine, everyone appearing to be just as tense and on their toes as the people watching the video. Hearts must have caught in the throats of everyone as the drone dipped into the energy, like person disappears into the curtains or someone dips a finger into the water. Just as fast as it had gone in, the drone reappeared…in front of the outside group who caught it and excitedly began responding to their comrades in the hangar via the walkie talkies.

“Whoa!” Louie breathed, his brothers too shocked to say anything.

“Cool drone,” Launchpad said off-handedly. “I wonder if I could get one.”

Crescena, despite being mesmerized by the events before her, couldn’t help but bite back a snicker from Launchpad’s absent-minded question. For all his strength and personal tales of adventures, he was a sweetheart. She felt her face take on a shade of gold, the way it always had when she blushed, as she recalled the small crush she had for him, from the tender age of fourteen to fifteen. Now, she only viewed him as a friend or older brother at best.

Roxanne reappeared again, saying with a dramatic voice that challenged Quackfaster’s, _“Now, NASA is going to take the next big step as they plan to send their test drone to an off-planet location-the Moon!”_

“Woo-oo!” all six kids and Della shouted as they nearly jumped out of their seats.

“Are they serious?” the retired agent asked, her normal polite composure giving way to great interest.

“If they succeed, I’ll invest all my Mayan treasures into it,” Scrooge nodded in awe.

They all once again quieted down as they saw a scientist begin tapping away and the rover began to move the drone forward towards the portal, just as they did its drone counterpart. Once again, silence befell those in the hangar and those watching from the comfort of a living room. The intensity grew as the rover dove into the pool of energy in front of it. Not a second after it fully disappeared into the energy, a large screen mechanically came down from the rafters and portrayed static for a couple of minutes. A minute went by. Then another. Finally, three times the charm appeared to be lucky as the static disappeared and everyone gasped at what they saw.

A horizon that consisted of a spotless plain of gray-silvery soil which could only belong to Earth’s satellite stretched for miles with a pitch black sky filled with stars. The last thing that cemented their belief of the rover being on the Moon was a clear visual of a familiar blue, green, and white orb in the star-riddled sky. As the clapping and cheers resounded throughout the hangar, scientists and military-suited individuals liked shook hands and patted each other on the back, the manor of living room was filled with excited chatter and whoops of thrilled children.

However, they were interrupted when a loud ringing came from the eldest duck’s pocket, making him stop and shush his family as he took out his phone and stare curiously at it, “That’s odd. It’s the Papa Swan phone number.”

“Did you kids order anything?” the boat-owning twin inquired as he looked as his nephews and adoptive nieces.

Before they could respond, Launchpad piped up, “Sorry, Mr. D. That was me! I ordered some of that new bacon and cheese stuffed crust. Figured it was a special occasion.”

“Just let the guy in, Uncle Scrooge,” the air-craft loving twin urged with a joking smile. “We can get back at Launchpad by eating some of the pizza.”

The simple duck let out a mockingly dramatic “No!” before slumping mockingly in his seat, making everyone chuckle and smile while Scrooge shrugged and pressed the button on the phone that would allow the gates to open and the pizza delivery person to enter.

As Launchpad took out money to pay for it, Crescena came up and took while saying, “I’ll answer the door for you.”

“Gee, thanks Cressie,” Launchpad said, ignoring the sideways, sharp glance that the twin adult ducks gave him, feeling a little uncomfortable with the younger male duck using their pet name for their adopted child.

Crescena just gave him a friendly smile as she took the money he had out and raced out of the room and towards the front door, taking out her own wallet. She trusted that Launchpad had the right amount of cash but she knew that the pilot/driver had the tendency to forget to add a tip every now and then. Taking out fifteen dollars from her own wallet, she opened the door to find a young male dog, dressed in the Papa Swan uniform, that was her age about to knock on door with one hand while holding a pizza box in the other, his name tag reading Johnny. Behind him, the sun had gone down and any last few rays of light were shrouded by some dark clouds. A brisk breeze wafted from the outside and caused her hair to flutter a bit.

He looked surprise for a moment before offering her a small smile as he presented her with the box, “Delivery! One large, stuffed crust pizza with pepperoni and extra cheese. That’ll be $10.75, please.”

As she took out Launchpad’s own money, she saw that there was two ten dollar bills and a one dollar bill. One of the bills had a note attached that said “tip for pizza.” She felt surprise and guilt for what she thought a few moments ago but managed a small inner chuckle as the tables had been turned in a humorous way. She proceeded to give the delivery guy the eleven dollars and felt a pang of sympathy as he shivered at the breeze and they heard the stray rumble.

As he handed her the change, she thrust the ten dollars and her fifteen dollars into his hand while taking the box with the other, while saying, “You take that, you’ve earned it.”

Counting his tip, he stared at her in surprise before seeing her sincere eyes and smiling, “Thank you!”

“Welcome,” she said as she watched him bound back to his car and jump inside just as the sky began to sprinkle.

Closing the door, she quickly made her way back to the room where she saw that Roxanne had been joined by another figure. It was none other than Ambrose Kroe. Although he was being depicted in a box being taped from somewhere else, he still wore a charming smile. But what really got the red-head’s attention was that the portal had been turned off.

“Pizza’s here!” Launchpad cheered to which everyone shushed him and him gave them an apologetic expression before whispering. “I mean, pizza’s here!”

Handing the buff drake the pizza, the blue-skinned young woman sat down just as they heard the reporter inquire to the rich rooster, _“Tell us, Mr. Kroe, why you think it was a safe idea to give the rover a timed control that will allow it to return to Earth by itself?”_

Kroe laughed as though Featherly had added something humorous to her question before replying, _“Please, call me Ambrose. Mr. Kroe is my father.”_

“Typical parent and adult child dissociation humor,” the young female hummingbird murmured.

_“Well, first of all, there is the matter of energy conservation. We need to set a good example for the kids, no matter how immense the discovery is,” _the tech entrepreneur continued. _“And second, it’s perfectly safe. We’ll just let the little fella wander around, shoot a few videos, collect a few rocks and soil samples, and then come back. Now, when we start jumping to other planets and include astronauts, that’s when we’ll pull out more safety measures. But for now, there’s nothing that can go wrong.”_

A minute after he said that, a loud crash of lightning brightened the room and everything went dark and silent in the manor. The kids let out shouts of surprise before rushing to the two female ducks whilst the richest duck in Duckburg and his nephew and oldest grand-niece went to work finding ways to light the room. Launchpad, startled, had flung his pizza slice to the ceiling and was now under a small lampstand, hugging the pizza box like a child would hug a pillow, not caring about squishing the cheese so it got onto his coat.

Scrooge, Donald, and Crescena reassured the kids as they find light sources, a candle, flashlight, and phone light respectively, before the owner of the manor said firmly but calmly, “Looks like the darn storm knocked out the power. Better get the back-up generator started.”

“I’ll come with you, sir,” the undauntable housekeeper said as she urged the girls to join their male counterparts and the two adult twins. “Why don’t you two get the children up to their rooms. I’ll be up with some warm refreshments in a bit.”

Della nodded as she began urging her sons and her surrogate daughters to the stairs while turning to her daughter, “Cressie, please get Launchpad out from under the lampstand.”

“Already on it, Mom,” the red-head reassured as she gently shook the simple duck’s shoulder and said gently. “Launchpad, it’s just a black out. Please come out of there.”

Slowly, Launchpad complied just as his slice fell from the ceiling and plopped onto the pizza box, startling him before he said sheepishly, “I guess I’m not a fan of the dark. It’s every pilot and driver’s worst fear to not be able to have control over what they can or can’t see.”

“Don’t we know it,” Della spoke up as she urged the kids up the stairs.

“Violet, you should call your folks and tell them you’re staying the night,” the short-tempered duck chimed in knowingly. “No need to be asking anyone to go out in heavy rain like this.”

Casting a glance out the window, she saw only rain and a few dark shapes, courtesy of the lightning flashes, revealing that it wasn’t just them who was affected. Turning to ascend the stairs, she felt her phone beep as she got a message, thinking it was Quackfaster or someone else from the Bin. She could only stare as she opened the message, no one around to ask what the message read.

The number was unknown and it read one word,

_Hello. _

* * *

Through the pathless expanse of the Moon, the rover persisted, unaware that everybody back on Earth were blind to what it was recording. It roamed aimlessly and carelessly over the barren dirt of the night’s crown celestial body. Every now and then, it would pick up a rock and scoop a small portion of soil. As it reached to grasp another rock, it halted. The detectors let out a beep as it sensed something…off about the rock. Turning it around in its metal arm, it saw something sparkling on the rock.

The camera whirred as the lens zoomed in to get a look at the strange, sparkling mineral. As it scanned it, a light on its head beeped as it discovered the substance was g-

Suddenly, a flash of something shiny and sharp came out of now where and struck it hard, causing it to tip over. A combination of the force and the low gravity, plus the fact that it was a few inches near a crater, causing it to tumble down, denting it and breaking a few of the mechanical components, including its camera. As it struck the ground, the camera whirred and whined until it halted, stilling like a wounded and forgotten soldier on the battle field.

Its limp form was soon eclipsed by shadows as a stern female voice said suspiciously, “What is this?”

* * *

The rain lasted for nearly two days, with very few breaks in between the cold, fall showers. Although, the residents of the manor and many other homes and public locations had gotten power back, some decided either that it would be safer to stay closed for a few days or to use the opportunity to have sales to get rid of their surplus. The library was one of the places that went for the former (Quackfaster had managed to half relax which was a plus in itself). Other places, such as Starducks, bakeries, and other retails, went for the latter, wanting to wait for the rain to stop before they attempted to make or stock fresh or newer goods.

When it finally ended on the second day, a quarter to Noon, the slow bustle atmosphere changed as the Sun still tried to poke its way through the suddenly silent clouds. The rain had not only left the house boat a wet mess, but a lightning bolt had damaged the roof, forcing Donald to spend the whole morning fixing on it, only stopping to have a hot, hardy breakfast with his family. Della’s flight lesson schedule was also in chaos as the storm had not only led to several delays, but now the rescheduling was hectic as some of her students were either sick due to being caught in the rain, injured due to slick roads and paths, or fixing their own storm-damaged homes. Suffice to say she would be busy as well. Scrooge had been called to the Bin to assess if any businesses or goods had been damaged as a result of the unforeseen weather, Launchpad of course accompanying him. Beakley was handling quite a full plate as she had to mend to the debris-filled pool, ruined gardens, and over-stuffed gutters. The kids ran off to the movies to catch a new film that had semi-caught their eye. As for Crescena, well, not only was she on her way to check on the tree house but she would be meeting some friends there, which wouldn’t be a problem as she had the day off, a generous thing of Quackfaster to do.

The night before, she had been texting Fenton and discovered that, like her, Gyro had allowed the young intern a day off, if only because he wanted the lab to himself for the day. She immediately asked if he would like to join her for an hour or so at the tree house, which she showed him about a year prior when he first began to work for the head scientist. He accepted if only on the condition that he could bring a friend to which the blue-skinned young woman had happily agreed. She had checked to see if anyone in her family needed her or wanted to accompany her to meet the earnest young man but they were all busy. Along with having some company in her little hide out, she was hoping to inquire about the unusual text and the strange incident with the printer. She was certain both were just odd occurrences but she still had some doubts. She had to find out.

As she made her out of the urban and busy streets of Duckburg and into the untamed and soothing embrace of the woods, she took in a deep breath and exhaled, the crispness of the air making her breath form an opaque mist. She smiled as she saw a red squirrel stare curiously at her before darting gup the tree to join its grey companion. The leaves crunched delightfully beneath her feet as she took in the colors and the clean smell, earthy scent. Adjusting her denim backpack that was dotted with orange, red, pink, yellow, white, green, and blue hand-painted dragonflies and butterflies while also holding her messenger bag. Today, she wore a royal purple, knitted off-the-shoulder sweater blouse and gray jeans. When she finally made it to the tree house, she immediately made her way up the stairs and assessed the damage. While some of the wind chimes had fallen down, none of them seem to be broken. The hammock was tangled, wet, and full of leaves but thankfully not torn or damaged. The worst of it was a sizable tree branch that had blocked the top of the stairs but was quickly removed. Grabbing the key that she hid under a loose wooden board, she opened the door (which had a small car door) and stepped in.

Even with the slight coolness, it was dry and undamaged, just as she knew it would be. Setting her bags down, she walked towards the brick fire pit and with some dry wood she had stored away, matches, and some scrap paper, she had a fire going. Striding over to one of the windows and opening it to let the smoke out, her eyes fell on two figures approaching the tree house.

“Hey, Crescena!” Fenton called out, waving cheerfully.

“Hey, Fenton! And…Gandra Dee?” the last part left the red head’s mouth in surprise but not hostile.

Running towards the door, she opened it and she was proven right as she saw both the blooming young scientist and punk rock scientist climbing up the stairs. Both had coats and scarves to combat the chilly wind but the female parakeet still had her Waddle head phones.

She offered the adopted McDuck a cool but soft smile, “Hey.”

“Oh my gosh, I haven’t seen you since June! How are you? Come on in!” Crescena urged as she took a step back to let them inside.

Gazing around with curious blue eyes, Gandra murmured, “Nice digs.”

“Thank you,” the red-head smiled. “I’m no technophobe, I assure you, but sometimes it’s just nice to get away for a bit. I gotta admit though, I thought Manny was coming with you, Fenton.”

The young Latino drake shrugged sheepishly, “Manny likes to go off and do his own thing.”

“Well, I still came prepared with snacks if either of you are hungry,” the blue-skinned young woman offered kindly.

“What’d ya got?” the rogue bio-engineer inquired.

“Well, I brought some bacon spinach-artichoke dip with bread slices, snickerdoodles, and some apple juice with me,” Crescena said as she opened one of the cupboards. “And we have pear sauce, blackberry-raspberry almond trail mix, yogurt-covered pretzels, and s’mores fixings.”

“S’mores?” Gandra echoed before smiling and turning to Fenton. “I like her already.”

Fenton chuckled, “I knew you would.”

* * *

“How about Campfire theme?” Huey proposed.

“Dude, that sounds something you would like to do for our next birthday,” Louie replied with an eye role. “Plus, Mom, Uncle Donald, and Uncle Scrooge will flip if they catch us doing anything that involves fire for someone’s birthday again.”

The group of six were currently at the snack bar of the movie theatre, bubblegum clothed duckling ordering snacks for herself and her friends while the others continued to brainstorm. Unfortunately, they still did not have a solid idea. Every pitch was either turned down indefinitely or put off as a Maybe or something to consider for another birthday.

“What about a Haunted Farm theme?” Dewey asked encouragingly.

“I think she outgrew that a long time ago,” Lena replied coolly with a slight eye roll. “Like when she was thirteen.”

“We’ll just have to keep trying after the movie ends,” Webby said as she and her friends grabbed their snacks and drinks, thanked the cashier, and began heading to their movie.

Thankfully, they had gotten there early so the previews were a couple of minutes from playing. Finding their seats, they all slid into the row, no other movie goer in the row to bump into, luckily, before sitting down.

Taking a sip of her soda, the young sorceress saw the scrunched brow on the female purple-feathered chick and asked, “You got something you want to share, Vi?”

“I was just thinking,” Violet began. “Maybe we can have some sort of heritage-based theme but that’s not possible.”

“That’s actually a good idea,” the eldest triplet said.

Catching her newest friend’s expression, it clicked in the retired agent’s granddaughter’s head, causing her to say in a sad tone, “Except, we know nothing about her _biological _heritage.”

That caused them all six kids to fall silent and looks of sadness, frustration, and thoughtfulness to cross their faces, before Violet began again, “I know you guys said your mom and uncles adopted her…but from where?”

The blue-clothed duckling gnawed at his lower beak for a moment before he opened his mouth to reply but was quickly shut down when the theater darkened and the other movie goers when deathly quiet. Obediently, the kids followed suit but not before Dewey mouthed to the newest member of their gang, _After the movies. _

* * *

“You really believe that?” Crescena asked before sipping some apple juice.

“That Beaks really did knock up some bimbo and now has two kids in Cardigan? I certainly do,” Gandra smirked as she bit into her sixth s’more. “And I’ve seen the proof.”

“Tell us,” Fenton said eagerly as he chowed down on the last portion of the dip and bread slices.

“When I met him, he was arguing with someone on his phone,” the punk rock scientist explained. “They were yelling at him so you could hear that it was a woman’s voice. He switched between calling her ‘Honey’ to ‘Bitch’ here and there. Then I heard what sounded like little kids on the other line too.”

Biting into a snickerdoodle, Crescena thought about the situation. Months earlier, the female parakeet had put her brother and sister’s lives in danger by giving Beaks the nanites that inflated his body to be bigger than his ego. The blue-skinned young woman would be lying if she said she hadn’t considered going after the rogue bio-engineer for what she had let transpire. However, after a few days of cooling down and talking to Fenton, Huey, and Webby, her rage had simmered to nothing. She also thought about how, this past summer, she and her siblings discovered that their beloved Uncle Donald had been seeing an anger management counselor to be a good parental figure alongside Scrooge and Della. It was natural to feel protective of her brothers but she knew it was not healthy to hold a grudge against someone she barely knew, despite their past acts.

And, of course, there was her own family’s interactions with Beaks. How her brothers had attempted to gain an internship only to be fired by the self-absorbed CEO of Waddle. Beaks nearly getting Gyro, Scrooge, and Dewey killed with the B.U.D.D.Y. system which he made based on Gyro’s Bulb Tech. And endangering all of Duckburg and nearly getting Fenton killed had officially made it clear that the attention-seeking parrot was a menace that needed to be put away as much as Glomgold and Ma Beagle. And she prayed it would be very soon.

“You sure it wasn’t just an ex-girlfriend and some would-have-been step-kids?” the young Latino drake inquired.

“I doubt that was the case,” Gandra snorted. “He wouldn’t be arguing about paying child support.”

“No,” both redhead and young intern gasped.

“Mrowr.”

Their conversation came to halt as they looked to see a Calico stroll out of from behind a bean bag and trot over to them. Behind it were eight kittens, three were black, two were ginger, one was white, and two were calico.

“Well, hello there, Pumpkin,” Crescena cooed as she held her hand out for the cat to nuzzle against. “I was wondering when you would come out of hiding. And you brought your babies!”

“Awww! Hello there,” Fenton joined in as he bent down to stroke the white kitten. “Hi gatita!”

“Are these guys yours?” Gandra asked as one of the ginger kittens strode up and she leaned down to pet him.

“In a way. I found her a couple of weeks ago before she gave birth,” Crescena replied. “Some pricks were trashing the abandoned barn she was living in and I got her out of there and brought her here. I couldn’t just dump her at an animal shelter but my Gran and Uncle Scrooge won’t be too pleased to have a stray running around the mansion. Even if it’s a normal one. So, she’s staying here until she and her kittens are old enough so I can find them homes.”

As the female parakeet stared at the blue-skinned young woman, her gaze suddenly fell on something on the three-digit appendage that looked like a tattoo, causing her to say, “Hey what does your tattoo say?”

Startled, the redhead probed in confusion, “What tattoo?”

“The one on the palm of your left hand,” the punk rock scientist specified.

Crescena seemed to pale before quickly rubbing her left palm with her right hand, as though it had been pricked by a thorn, before saying in a soft whisper, “That’s not a tattoo. I’ve had it from when I was a baby.”

Realizing she had hit a sensitive spot, the rogue bio-engineer quickly apologized, “Sorry! I didn’t mean to be rude.”

“It’s alright,” the adopted McDuck reassured with a serene smile.

But even as they continued to talk with each other, snack, and play with the felines, both blooming young scientist and female parakeet noticed how their friend tried to keep her left hand covered.

* * *

Johnny cursed as he twisted the tire iron, frustrated huffs clouding his face with wispy clouds. He had been driving back to the pizza parlor when he had gotten a flat tire. The young delivery man had already been having a bad day. First, he had woken up late due. Then, upon entering the parlor, who would be there but Al, his least favorite co-worker, ready to kiss up to the manager and make him look bad. And if that wasn’t bad enough, over half the orders that day had been placed by stuck-up soccer moms and college jokers who were using the time left by their cancelled classes to make prank calls instead of doing work. Now, here he was, struggling to fix a tire that had been torn to shreds due to some idiot littering the street with nails. Again, that was probably some jerks from the university who decided that they could spare a few hours of causing him and other food deliverers trouble before “hitting the books.”

As he wiped the sweat off his brow, that had victoriously appeared on his brow in spite of the cool air, he heard a twig snap behind him. He was currently in one of Duckburg’s few rural areas, so he brushed the noise off as an animal. If it was hungry or feral, he would just toss it one of the cold, unwanted pizzas that he was stuck with after another joke prank caller. Maybe he wouldn’t have so many if Al wasn’t such a gullible, pushy moron…

A crunch of leaves echoed behind him before two muscular silhouettes covered him like a foreboding blanket. Johnny quickly fought back a nervous gulp and he took a shaky sigh. In his two and a half years as a pizza deliverer, he had encountered his share of muggers and other undesirables. He had, so far, avoided being seriously injured, usually coming out with a few scrapes, bumps, and bruises. However, after all the stuff that had gone down in the last year, nervousness that he had not felt since his first day, arose.

“Look,” he began shakily. “I’ll do or give you whatever you want. Just please don’t rough me up.”

He waited for a moment before a female voice replied harshly, “At least your people know your place.”

“Lieutenant,” a male voice reprimanded firmly.

Now, Johnny’s fear was melting into confusion. He was certain that there were no female Beagle groups and the first voice sounded too direct and young. And the male voice had a particular accent and sounded deeper. Not to mention…more regal.

Suddenly, the male voice spoke again, “We wish to find…well, we’re not certain, but we need to speak to someone. Someone in charge.”

Johnny didn’t say anything before the female voice spoke again sharply, “Turn around when we address you!”

“Okay, okay! I’ll turn around and I’ll take you guys to whoever you need to speak to,” Johnny insisted as he turned around…and stared, mouth dropping open.

His eyes stared at the two strangers…strange being emphasized. Suddenly, his mind went back to two night ago. He felt a sting of guilt, but his desire to protect his person won out.

Sending a prayer that asked forgiveness for whatever events were about to transpire because of his actions, he gulped as he said, “I-I think I may know who you two want to talk to. Just let me finish what I’m doing here and I’ll take you to him.”

The only confirmation he got were two silent nods from the unusual newcomers. Well…not entirely unusual. Oh, how he hated today.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, Ambrose Kroe is a parody of Alistair Krei! And this chapter is a cliffhanger. Sorry, not sorry!


	3. A Surprise Unlike Any Other

Della sighed in frustration and exhaustion as she finished what felt like the hundredth, nearly-half-hour long phone conversation with one of her students. She leaned her head back in her computer chair and closed her eyes. Not all of them were bad, she knew. They had other obligations and responsibilities, just like her, but years of traveling and adventuring with the richest Duck in the world and nearly two decades of motherhood had taught her somethings. That included restraint, patience, and understanding. Things that she had barely grasped before the oldest of her children had come along. She had never planned on it, but she was far from regretting it.

Pushing herself away from her desk, she stretched her limbs before getting up and leaving the room. As she made her way downstairs, the welcoming smell of coffee wafted through the air. Upon reaching the kitchen, she was pleasantly surprised to find her twin was pouring fresh hot coffee into two mugs. Like her, he looked downright bushed from fixing his boat, his work more evident in his stained sailor suit and slightly bandaged hands. When she’s close enough, he hands her one of the delightfully warm mugs before turning his attention to the plate of coffee cake which Crescena and Beakley had made that morning.

“Nearly done with those repairs?” the air-craft loving twin asked her brother.

“Well, the roof is just about finished,” Donald sighed as he took a large gulp of the caffeinated drink before taking a sizable bite of his piece of coffee cake.

“Well, I’m sure the new tenants will appreciate how much work you put into it,” the adventurous of the twins said encouragingly. “What do you know about them?”

The short-tempered duck shrugged as he spoke, “Guy’s name is Lloyd Vogel and his girlfriend Jasmine Macawford. They’re here visiting some family that she has in the area but they said that they don’t want to rent any apartments in town or put any family members out.”

“Well, when you’re staying in a houseboat in the manor of the richest duck in the world, you’ll use any excuse to rent it,” the mother of four snickered as she sipped her coffee.

“Ha, ha, ha,” the unlucky Duck sibling laughed sarcastically before saying. “What’s really weird is that they’re paying in cash.”

Before his sister could even get the chance to comment on that her brother’s additional comment, the loud opening and shutting of the front door nearly made both twin adults drop their mugs and Donald almost choke on the coffee cake he had just taken a bite of. Setting their mugs down, both rushed out of the kitchen to find their uncle mumbling with fury as Launchpad and Beakley treaded carefully behind him. While the undauntable housekeeper kept her calm demeanor, Launchpad looked like a child who had just been brought home early after their parent just picked them up on report card day. The eldest duck barely seemed to register his niece and nephew as he strode into the next room, plopped down in an arm chair, and proceeded to glare daggers at the wall as though it was some old foe who dropped in at the worse time.

After what felt like an eternity, though it was really just a couple of minutes, Donald bravely stepped forward and asked, “So, bad day at the Bin?”

“Lad, every time I stepped into the Bin to talk to those scandalous scavengers, it turns into a bad day,” the patriarch of the family growled, not turning to look at his surrogate son. “But today…oh, today was so much more _atrocious_.”

“That bad, huh?” Della inquired sympathetically as she came to stand beside her brother who now had a worried look.

“They kept bringing up the idea of firing people, as always,” the Scottish drake continued to gripe before stopping and shivering in anger.

“Don’t they always do that?” the retired agent inquired calmly.

“Yes, but they pushed a button they shouldn’t have,” Scrooge said irritably before sighing as though the anger was slipping away but not without clawing and screeching on its way out, evident by him rubbing the bridge between his eyes and beaks. “They had the audacity to say that I should fire Crescena.”

“WHAT?!” came the collective scream from the four other ducks.

“Please tell us you’re joking,” Beakley asked in an appalled tone.

“I wish I was,” the richest duck in the world muttered as he began to rant again. “Spewing all kinds of nonsense about how her working there is a symbol of favoritism!”

“That’s not true!” the buff drake said defiantly before pausing in confusion as he turned to the British duck and asked. “What’s favoritism?”

“When you show preferential treatment and give unneeded praise to another individual due to personal reasons despite them have equal status with others,” Beakley said patiently though there was a harsh flame flickering in her eyes.

“Ah,” the pilot/driver nodded before turning to his fellow flyer. “What does that mean?”

“That they think Crescena gets special treatment and only has her job because she’s part of our family,” the mother of four gritted through clenched teeth as her twin rubbed her shoulder. “Which I call bull!”

“Della,” the unlucky Duck sibling reprimanded, never having enjoyed his sister cursing, whether she was among adults or her children, even as he breathed heavily with anger.

But the adventurous Duck sibling wasn’t done as she continued, attention directed at her uncle, “I’ve been to the damn Bin thousands of times and I have never seen you or anyone else give her any special treatment. They have some damn nerve saying that about my daughter!”

Seeing how the situation was spiraling, the undauntable housekeeper turned to the simple duck and spoke, “Launchpad, perhaps you should go and fetch the children. It’s rather cold outside and I don’t want them to stay out until sundown.”

Smart enough to sense the growing tension, Launchpad nodded as he grabbed the limo keys and headed out the door whilst the stormy aura from the CEO and the two younger adult ducks continue to brew. Running to the limo, he hopped in and shoved his keys into the limo ignition before taking out his phone to text Dewey that he was coming to pick him and the other five up. As he did, he took notice of a notification on his phone.

It read: _Moon Rover Camera Still Dark and Silent_.

As he exited through the gate, he failed to see the car with the Papa Swan’s logo approach.

* * *

“When did you say you found this?” Fenton asked as he observed the crescent moon that the printer had created days ago.

“The day of the Moon rover launch,” Crescena said. “And I got a message the same day from an unknown number. You think they’re related?”

“Could be a glitch,” Gandra said from where she stroked Pumpkin. “Could be a cyber-stalker.”

Although the redhead knew the female parakeet was just playing, the thought of someone watching her every move via technology was somewhat distressing. Even with her experience with the supernatural and mythical, it did not soothe her to think that any supposedly “normal” person would begin to obsess over her.

Luckily, the young intern quickly soothed her fears by saying, “Sounds like the printer was just glitching. Or maybe it was printing a belated object that someone else had set to print a while ago. As for the text, well, unless it directly said your name, my guess is that someone was prank texting you or it was an accident.”

Letting the reasons swim in her head like idle goldfish, the blue-skinned young woman relaxed, “That makes sense. Thank you, Fenton. I can’t believe I got myself so worked up over nothing.”

“It’s alright,” the young Latino drake soothed. “At least you know it’s nothing to fret over now.”

“By the way, somebody told me that your birthday is coming up,” the rogue bio-engineer stated with a grin. “You ready to kiss teen-hood goodbye?”

“As ready as I’ll ever be,” Crescena said with a modest smile. “Kind of unsure, actually.”

“That’s just the nerves talking,” the punk rock scientist reassured. “Trust me.”

Crescena nodded as the blooming young scientist checked his phone and said, “Uh oh, looks like I gotta go. I got a text from M’ma telling me to come to the station. It’s urgent.”

“Is everything alright?” the adopted McDuck asked worriedly, a similar look crossing Gandra’s face.

“She had to be present at the courthouse to oversee a trial today,” Fenton explained with a grimace. “And she was dreading it.”

“I better go too,” Gandra said. “I just moved into a new apartment and I got a few more boxes to unpack. And if I don’t get that done now, I’ll be up all night.”

“If you want, I can come with you to help,” the blue-skinned young woman offered sincerely.

“You’re a peach,” the female parakeet laughed. “But I got a group of male college students for neighbors. They see you helping me, and their little Welcome Wagon will turn into a Welcome Battering Ram just for a chance to see if they can slip their number onto our phones.”

All three chuckled slightly, though the redhead could clearly see that the young intern was a little startled by what his female companion said and seemed to already be harboring distaste for the rogue bio-engineer’s neighbors. She kept that in mind as they cleaned up, bid the mother cat and her litter goodbye, and left the treehouse. As Crescena started to head back to the manor, she couldn’t help but sneak a look over her shoulder and see the two science enthusiasts’ hands brush together. Although she found it exceedingly sweet but, at the same time, felt a slight curl of envy in her stomach.

Knowing what was coming, she took out her phone and saw Tacca’s frequency line, **“You did good. You barely knew that young woman but you trusted a friend you did know and your instincts. And, by doing so, you made a friend.”**

“Thanks, Tacca,” the redhead said simply.

**“So why do you seem upset?” **came the soft inquiry.

“It’s nothing,” Crescena insisted.

**“Mmm-hmm,” **came the unconvinced response.

“Okay, okay, okay,” the blue-skinned young woman huffed, knowing she wasn’t going to win this. “I guess I…I wish I had what Gandra and Fenton have. Or, at least _something_ close to it.”

**“You mean someone to like as more than a friend,” **Tacca said, more as a statement than a question.

“Yeah,” Crescena sighed.

**“You’re still young. It’ll take patience and courage to find one,” **the program reassured softly.

“Somehow, I doubt that,” the adopted McDuck charge sighed.

While attractive and coming from an educated and well-rounded family, Crescena never had anyone approach her. You would have to have a death wish and a sense of danger at the same time to seek out the richest duck in the world’s adopted grandniece. For some time, the redhead thanked the fact that her unusual but not disdainful looks and her reputation put off any potential suitors, if they existed. Particularly those who only wanted to be with her for wealth and status. As if Scrooge would just hand over any of his life’s work and wealth to someone who claimed to “love” a member of his family. It was part of the reason why her mother, Uncle Donald, and Gran had decided to home-school her, the triplets, and Webby.

**“Time will tell, Crescena,” **Tacca said as she began to go into her scheduled sleep mode. **“Time will tell.”**

Crescena only placed her phone back into her messenger back as she continued her peaceful, but somewhat lonesome, walk home.

* * *

Beakley sipped her cup of Assam tea as she watched the three members of clan McDuck before her. After some venting and cursing, to which she and Donald frowned upon, the mother of four, sailor-suited drake, and Scottish drake managed to calm down though they were still simmering. Even the warm drinks and snacks did little to further cool their still raw tempers. Both British duck would be lying if she said that she was not surprise or disgusted with the callous behavior aimed at her surrogate oldest granddaughter. Oh, the three vultures were far from being friendly with the CEO’s family and acquaintances, barely being civil, but never had they spoken ill of their CEO or said family to his face. Until now. Hopefully, they could spend the rest of the afternoon in peace and q-

_KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!_

And just like that, her hopes were crushed as if they were dry autumn leaves, like their fallen brothers and sisters outside.

“Oh, who could that be?!” Donald snapped as he stood up and stomped towards the door.

“It better be those jumbo jerks come to apologize,” Della grumbled as she, Scrooge, and Beakley also stood up and hurried to see who it is.

Just as the short-tempered duck’s fingers wrapped around the door handle, the retired agent quickly realized something as she spoke, “Wait! How could there be someone at the door if we didn’t-?”

Her question was cut off as the boat-owning twin flung the door open, ready to snap at the person for choosing the worse time to bother him and the other adults of the manor, when he stopped and gapped. When his sister, uncle, and friend all saw the visitors, they followed his example.

Before them stood two strange beings, one who looked to be male and another who looked to be female. Both were dressed in garments that gave off a golden-sheen that matched their almost-Romanesque helmets, their _three-digit_ gloves, and boots. The male’s skin was a darkish shade of mint that one would find in chocolate chip mint ice cream and his teal eyes regarded the four with a cool, civility and non-hostile aura that went well with his professional smile. The female, however, was glowering with the most heated, hate-filled glare that dared to challenge those of all the adversaries of the past and present. Her skin was a stormy lilac while her eyes were fierce shade of wisteria. All four ducks felt their hackles raise when they saw how both were armed with blasters while the female carried a gleaming golden spear.

What really shook them was the realization how they resembled the child they were fretting over.

“Greetings Earthers,” the male spoke politely in a velvety, noble voice. “I am General Lunaris. I and my second-in-command, Lieutenant Penumbra, come here on behalf of the Planet Moon to speak with the one known as Scrooge McDuck.”

“Which of you is McDuck?” the female, Penumbra, inquired in a less kind voice.

Stepping forward, the eldest duck spoke calmly but never took his astonished eyes off the two, “I am he. What is it you want?”

“We wish to speak to you in regards to the mechanism that was sent to our planet,” Lunaris continued. “And to ask what were your intentions in regards to this action.”

“What do you have planned, Moon intruder?” Penumbra said in a challenging tone.

“Penumbra!” the Moon General chided harshly, directing a sharp look at his second-in-command.

“Wait, you mean the Moon Rover? That’s how you got here?” Scrooge probed before clapping a hand to his head as though trying to process the whole situation while reprimanding himself for the obvious answer. “Of course, that’s how you got here.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” the aircraft-loving Duck twin said, shaking her head like if she were trying to awake from a dream. “Let me make sure I got this straight. You guys are from the _Moon_?”

“Yes,” the mint-colored male confirmed with a strong hint of pride.

“There is life on the _Moon_?!” the unlucky Duck sibling squawked.

“What did he just say?” the lilac-colored female demanded in an insulted tone as though he just cursed her ancestors and people.

Ignoring the question, the undauntable housekeeper strode to stand beside her friend and employer before asking in a firm but civil voice, “Who told you to come here?”

“We were brought here by an Earther in a vehicle that had a strange insignia,” Lunaris explained simply with a hint of uncertainty as he recalled the ride. “The insignia featured one of your own with a yellow circle with red dots. According to him, he’s a food distributor.”

Realizing who the newcomers were describing, all four made a firm promise to themselves to phone in a complaint to the pizza chain.

“Well I’m sorry, but you were brought to the wrong person,” the owner of the manor explained carefully. “I am not responsible for sending the rover to your, er, planet. As a matter of fact, the only reason I know about it is because the real people responsible had broadcasted the video of it being transported to the Moon days ago. It was just sent to gather Moon minerals. No one ever believed that there was life on the Moon.”

“I see,” the Moon General murmured, sounding both startled, relieved, slightly embarrassed by the mistake, and…something else.

“Plus, the Moon isn’t really a planet,” the mother of four said with a casual shrug.

“You will show respect for the vastly superior Moon or you will suffer the ultimate consequence,” the Moon Lieutenant snarled, reaching for her spear but was stopped by the mint-colored male as he shot her a warning look.

Simultaneously, the sailor-suited drake quickly put himself in front of his unabashed sister and snarled, “Hey, back off, you two palookas!”

“Donald,” the eldest duck said in a firm and soothing tone.

“Seriously, I can’t understand him!” Penumbra snapped in a confused and irritated tone. “He better not be saying bad things about the Moon!”

By this time, Beakley had retreated back into the house, taking out a slip of paper whilst she headed to where she had left her phone. Grabbing it, she quickly went into another room as the other three continued to stand their grand before the visitors from the Moon. As they put on civil and brave faces outside, they were swarming with shock, some sort of morbid excitement and apprehension on the inside. Looking at the physical features of the two individuals before them left no question that they were not unlike their dear Crescena, minus the lighter skin coloring and darker eye coloring. Did they even have hair? Not important. What was important is what they feared would happen if their adopted child and the two representators of the lunar body saw each other. Carefully, they snuck each other a glance to see that all three of them were thinking the same thing and that they would do everything in their power to prevent it if they can.

“Is there anything else we can do for you?” Della inquired politely.

Lunaris seemed to take a moment to think himself. The whole thing felt surreal, years of training and stories from his late father had had prepared to face a hoard of angry, Moon-hating Earthers. To discover that the Earthers were only interested in his home for mineral samples was a relief and…something akin to anti-climatic.

“I suppose you can help us communicate with the people responsible for creating and making the, what did you call it, rover?” the Moon General questioned logically.

“I’m sure that can be arranged,” the richest duck in the world nodded coolly.

Swinging to face her superior, the Moon warrioress almost screamed while taking a few steps backwards, “You can’t be serious! All this time, we were worried the Earthers were planning on invading us and now we find out they never even knew our people existed? Let’s leave it at that! Only five of them know about us so let’s give them back their stupid machine and forget this ever happened!”

Turning to his fellow protector with an exasperated and aggravated look, the Moon leader spoke as patiently as he could, “Penumbra, these people have invented a new and incredible advanced form of transportation. Regardless of why they sent it to our planet, we have stumbled upon a new revelation of our own. We need to figure out what to do with it.”

“Whoa!”

Everyone turned to see that, behind the two Moon guardians, Launchpad stood in utter shock with the six kids looking on in utter disbelief from behind him. Lunaris kept his eyes on the new Earther male and the six smaller Earthers, most likely the offspring and charges of the three Earthers in the door entrance. Penumbra let out a hiss of annoyance and anger, obviously upset by having more Earthers catch sight of her and her fellow soldier. While the young females had sparks of curiosity, the young males had cautious looks that were only stressed by the lilac-colored female’s audible hiss and narrowed eyes.

“Dewey,” Violet whispered to the blue-clothed duckling. “Those two look just like Crescena.”

“I know,” Dewey whispered back while still processing what he was seeing before him.

Launchpad suddenly spoke aloud, “Uh, Mr. McD, is this an early Halloween joke or something?”

“It’s okay, kids, Launchpad,” the short-tempered duck reassured. “It’s just some new acquaintances visiting.”

“From where?” Webby asked, eyes never looking away from the two gold-attired individuals.

“The Moon,” the CEO confirmed calmly as though he was just telling them the time.

“THE MOON?!” all seven cried out in utter alarm.

“Yes,” the lilac-colored female confirmed. “_Planet _Moon.”

“But the Moon isn’t a planet,” Huey piped up, confusion now coupled with his shock and concern.

“I know, sweetie,” the adventurous Duck twin nodded. “So, I guess you can say it’s Moon Moon.”

Having had enough of the blasphemous comments against her home, Penumbra took out her spear and prepared to swing it on Della, shouting, “PLANET M-!”

She never got the chance to finish as a flash of red crossed her vision and a new female voice scream, “NO!”

Penumbra barely had anytime to blink when someone caught, yes _caught _her spear. Her eyes connected with shining light blue for a moment before the spear was ripped from her hands and she felt the non-sharp end connect hard with her abdomen, knocking the wind out of her and sending her onto the damp and cold ground. She heard her General call her name before she felt familiar hands grab her and help her up. Her eyes, which had been scrunched from the surprise and pain of the attack, opened to look around and discover that the Moon leader staring with wide teal eyes and a gapping mouth looking ahead. She followed his gaze and felt her own features copy his as she looked to the opponent who knocked her down.

Before them was the most unfamiliar Moonlander they had ever seen. Her eyes were a light blue that no one in the history of Tranquility ever had, contrasting dangerously and beautifully with her dark blue skin that was magnificent shade that very few Moonlanders were born with. Her slender frame was similar to that of some of their female citizens but, for some reason, they couldn’t help but take it all in, despite her obvious Earther attire. But the most astonishing feature was her deep red hair, flowing a bit from the slight breeze like fire. Red, and a few other colors, was a color so rare in a place filled with golds, blues, greens, purples, gray, silvers, and blacks. Still, it did not take away from her stunning appearance. In fact, it only added to it. Behind her, the three ducks stared speechless at the situation that transpired. Behind the two warriors, Launchpad had pushed all six kids behind him, watching the scene nervously. The kids themselves were whispering furiously.

It was then that they realized she was looking at them in bewilderment…and fear. Fear of what? Was it _them_? That couldn’t be right! They were the defenders of Moonlanders. Why would she fear them?

But the truth was, Crescena did fear them and what almost transpired. She looked at them, silently trying to regulate her breathing while her eyes never left the two newcomers. Who. Looked. Just. Like. Her. Despite the chilly air, she felt her palms grow sticky and wet with sweat as she gripped the spear, still having it pointed at the two as thought they would rise and attack. Lunaris, making sure Penumbra could stand, took a few cautious steps towards her. The redhead felt her breathing hitch until her grandmother suddenly appeared and caused everyone to halt.

Her eyes were wide for a moment before closing them and sighing as she said, “Crescena, you and Launchpad take the children inside.”

As soon as she said that, Launchpad and the kids proceeded to dart past the two Moon visitors and into the house. Crescena was a little more hesitant, eyes never leaving the two before she shakily threw the spear down, almost like it scorched her hands, and fled inside.

“W-Wait!” Lunaris cried out as he tried to follow inside but was stopped and nearly fell backwards when the unlucky Duck sibling stepped forward and let out a strong of loud and unintelligible squawks which could only be Earth curses.

Running to stand beside the Moon leader, the Moon warrioress snatched up her spear and struggled to get the words out, ire and perplexity combining on her face as she sputtered, “Who-!? What-?! When-!? I mean-!”

Scrooge only held up a hand to silence her before calmly saying, “I think you two need to come inside. This…will take a while to explain.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I decided that for my AU, Gandra will not be in league with F.O.W.L. And due to the AU, some episodes have not taken place (like McMystery at McDuck McManor, so sorry Duckworth lovers) while other episodes have happened (The Dangerous Chemistry of Gandra Dee).


	4. The Moon's Gift From Above

Penumbra hated anything that seemed to go against the order of Tranquility.

She hated it when a sturdy building would nearly collapse because a Moon-mite snuck in for a quick snack. She hated when her neighbors would get into an argument over something ridiculous and make a scene. She hated it when, out of nowhere, she or Lunaris would get sick due to a Moon virus (which was rare, thank Tranquility) and patrol schedules would be put out of whack. But this, _oh this_, was something else.

A Moonlander living among Earthers? She didn’t just hate it. She _loathed _it. Not that Penumbra loathed Crescena (though she did feel a bruise forming on her stomach where the red-headed female struck her) but to find one of her own among the Earthers nearly sent her into a rage. And she still was, even as she sat beside Lunaris across from Scrooge, Beakley, and the Duck twins. Before them were six tea cups filled with orange pekoe. While four them, courtesy of the ducks, had been sipped, the two Moonlanders’ cups were untouched, Lunaris’s due to the shock of the whole thing and Penumbra’s because she didn’t trust that it wasn’t poisoned.

It felt like an eternity since they arrived into this office, in the large manor that rivalled some of the buildings of their city. Though both Moon guardians had kept their focus ahead, they couldn’t help and sneak a few glances at the photos and paintings, most of the formers being those of the four ducks, the children, and the blue-skinned young female. It reminded both of their own pictures that they had with their friends and late parents. Upon arriving to the office, they plopped down into the seats, everybody seemed to be either in deep thought or at a loss for words.

The eldest duck seemed to be the one to do the most hard-thinking, his hands clutched tightly around his cup as he seemed to lost in another realm (though little did the Moonlanders know that the literal sense had happened to the family often). The Duck twins seemed to have a mixture of disbelief and suspicion, Della’s being more the former as she tried to not stare while Donald had no problem staring down the two. Lunaris took care to avoid the daggers being sent his way while Penumbra had no problem trying, and failing, to stare down the younger adult drake. Beakley seemed to be gazing ahead of the two gold-clad warriors, eyes focused on the door to the office, as if she was expecting someone else to join them. Once or twice, she cast a curious but cool glance at Moon guardians before looking away.

Finally, the silence had reached its limit with Penumbra before she bolted up, slamming her hands on the table, and snapped, “Okay, quiet time is over! Now you are going to tell us how and when you stole one of our own from the Moon or will I have to beat it out of you?!”

“Lieutenant!” the mint-colored male warned but his words did not reach the lilac-colored female.

“We didn’t steal anyone!” Donald shouted back, nearly jumping into her face but was quickly restrained by his sister and Beakley. “She’s never even been to the Moon! She was born here on Earth!”

“Donald, please remain seated,” the British duck demanded in her authoritative tone but did not hesitate to add. “But he is not wrong.”

“Penumbra, shouting isn’t going to get us anywhere. So, sit down,” Lunaris said commandingly, to which the Moon warrioress relented with an angry pout, before turning to the four Earthers. “But I would like an explanation.”

The eldest duck nodded wisely, “Of course, that’s why we’re here. But for our explanation to begin, Mrs. Beakley here will tell her part.”

As the two Moonlander’s gaze moved from the eldest duck to the second eldest duck, Beakley began, “Years ago, I was part of a group that, much like you two, had the mission of protecting my people. Unfortunately, our enemies were our own people as well.”

Both Moon visitors seemed to sit up straighter in their seats as she continued, “There was a group of Earthers, as you call us, who wanted to control the rest, no matter how unjust it was or who got hurt. My and my colleagues’ missions were to prevent this. And, twenty years ago to be exact, it was on one of these missions that I found Crescena.”

“Found?” Penumbra echoed in confusion and slight distrust.

The undauntable housekeeper nodded as she continued, “I had been sent to Moscrow, a region of our planet, to stop some of their unlawful experiments. We succeeded in catching most of them and stopping the experiments. We were about to leave until I found a hidden room. It was in that room that I found trashed equipment, torn papers, and an infant I never seen before, crying all alone in a poor excuse for a bassinet. That baby was Crescena. Despite her unusual appearance, I was not afraid or hostile. I felt only sympathy. I was a mother myself, though my daughter had just recently left home to become an independent young lady. So, I could easily tell that she was barely a day old and in need of warmth, nourishment, and gentle care. Poor dear had just been abandoned there. Left for dead, to be blunt. Even with my years of being hardened fighter, maternal instinct gave me the ability to hold onto compassion. A child is a child. Sadly, my superiors, although pitied her situation, did not have the time or resources to raise an infant. Nor would they allow me to risk the security of my family and colleagues to raise her. They insisted that I seek someone else trustworthy enough to take care of her.”

“So, she brought sweet Crescena to us,” the Scottish drake spoke up. “I have to admit, I was not expecting to be sidled with a new bairn so early. Donald and Della here were barely any older than Crescena when Beakley arrived on our doorstep.”

“But after nearly two weeks of having her, well, we fell in love with her,” the air-craft loving twin put in, her tone taking on a hint of what could only be motherly pride as she grabbed a picture frame that was on the desk, looking at it fondly. “So, we adopted her officially. Then, nine years later, my boys came along.”

The picture had recently been taken that past Fourth of July and featured not just the family but a good number of others, including Fenton, his mother, Gyro, Quackfaster, and Manny. It depicted everyone in some form of red, white, and blue attire. Even Louie had substituted his green hoodie for a white one with red stripes and blue stars to match his brothers more festive but not unusual colored attires. The Moon leader and the Moon warrioress felt a strange spark as they saw the redhead with her long, ruby locks curled and sporting a red blouse and white tennis shorts, smiling pleasantly at the camera.

“Soon enough, my granddaughter, Webbigail, and I joined them,” the retired agent returned to the conversation while nodding to each figure in the frame which the adventurous Duck twin was showing them. “And recently, we just took in young Lena.”

Both were quiet as they gazed at the picture for a moment before the Moon warrioress finally replied, “So, you’re telling us that Crescena is an…Earther experiment? How is that possible?”

“Well, we never knew what she was until you two showed up on my doorstep,” the owner of the manor explained. “The files regarding her creation were destroyed by the people who made her. We had scientists run a safe, non-harmful test but we couldn’t figure out what species she was. We assumed she was just something they crafted after a miscellany of different genetic materials until they created something new. But for all the work they put into making her, not one of those underground urchins had any kindness to protect her, which worked out just fine for us, thankfully. She was either left behind because people like the ones who Beakley use to apprehend foolishly thought they could abandon a wee one and then come back for her or they simply just thought they could make another.”

Hearing the hardened crack in his uncle’s voice, the boat-owning twin gently squeezed the older drake’s shoulder before saying, “Those people were scum for leaving her.”

Never would either Moonlander thought they would be silently agreeing with an Earther. Especially one with such a weird speech pattern.

“But how could they have made her when you said your people never knew ours existed?” Penumbra insisted.

“Meeting you now, we have reason to believe that they sent their own personal, unregistered rover to the Moon to collect samples,” the undauntable housekeeper reasoned. “The technology that was used to transport the Moon rover you have is new but rovers themselves are not. They must have collected a sample of one of your people somehow, perhaps a lock of hair that they somehow found or something in that area, and used it to create her.”

“My father did say that he saw objects being launched off the Earth. One of them must have landed on our planet after all our people went into hiding. He would have told us if one of our own was taken, especially a child,” the Moon General said as listened with a troubled look. “I suppose he was right, in a way, to hide our people after all. I just can’t believe this. Does…she know?”

Scrooge sighed for what felt like the millionth time that day as he nodded, “We told her a couple of years back. And we just recently explained it to the children a year or two ago. It was hard, but we reassured them that we love her as our own and always will. Nothing can change what we’ve made.”

“So, she’s never met another one like her?” the Moon Lieutenant asked with an indescribable tone.

“Never, until today,” the mother of four nodded sadly.

“Then how can she have a Moon name?” the lilac-colored female suddenly snapped. “Crescena sounds like a Moon name!”

“She has a crescent moon birthmark on her back,” Della continued. “That’s what gave us the idea to name her that.”

“Well, it’s quite a beautiful name,” the Moon leader commented politely with a sincere smile before, without warning, grabbing the frame to look closer at the picture. “And she’s grown to be quite a beautiful, healthy young lady.”

Donald had suspicious gleam in his eyes upon hearing the mint-colored male say such a comment while looking a _little _too closely at the frame, his second-in-command leaning over to look equally close as well. Feeling his uncle/paternal instincts begin to rev into overdrive, he harshly snatched the frame away from them. The action had caused both to immediately flinch and stare as though they were puppies whose toy had just disappeared. Della and Beakley quickly put a hand on either shoulder to both soothe him and control him.

“Of course, being an adult mean she’ll be leaving the nest soon enough. In a year or two, Crescena will go off on her own to meet new people and see new places,” the British duck said wistfully.

“Well, she kind of has done that with all the adventuring we do,” the adventurous Duck sibling commented. “But soon, she’ll be doing it on her own.”

“Aye, but she’ll always be the little scamp who use to climb on anything she could,” the CEO sighed before blinking. “Oh, wait! She still does that here and there.”

“So, she’s not a prisoner here,” Lunaris stated, barely containing his relief as to not offend the four Earthers, before turning to his fellow Moon guardian. “Well, this is quite a revelation, isn’t Penumbra?”

The lilac-colored female gave him no answer as she stared down at her lap, hiding her face from all the other occupants of the room.

“Lieutenant?” the mint-colored male inquired, his voice a mixture of confusion, concern, and something that asked to have a response.

Out of nowhere, Penumbra shot out of her seat and stormed out of the office. After a moment, her superior and the four adult Earthers went after her.

* * *

The boys and Webby can count the number of times they had seen their big sister be vulnerable and still have fingers left over. Now that number had just gone down one as she and all six kids sat with her on the living room couch while Launchpad ran to get them something to sooth their nerves from the kitchen. None of them were stupid, especially Lena, Violet, and Huey. They knew the adults were still capable of feeling moments of weakness. However, it didn’t mean they liked to put up with it. With all the unusual and abnormal creatures they’ve seen and places or events they’ve been to (Dewey still had nightmares about the Festival of the Flower), this one had to be in their Top 10. They could care less about finding out that their big sister’s species being extraterrestrial, especially considering they had a shadow-origin friend and a stone-headed horse man ally (among other things). But for other members of the same species to appear suddenly and aggressively was a little much.

They all looked to see that Crescena’s eyes were downcast and their usually vibrant sheen was gone as what looked to be conflict and trouble swam in their depths instead. They had only seen her like this at least two or three times, and though she always snapped out of it, it never made it any less painful. Having had enough, Louie was the first to nuzzle himself against the redhead’s side, the way he did when they little and they would cuddle on the couch. This seemed to wake her up a bit as she lifted her head to turn and see the youngest of her brothers gazing up at her softly. Smiling a bit, she quickly pulled him into gentle but strong hug. The other five quickly followed and received the same treatment as they too were gathered into her arms and pressed tightly to her person.

“Thanks guys,” Crescena cooed gently, grateful for the comforting gesture that spoke volumes of the sibling bonds they all had crafted.

The sweet moment was rudely interrupted when Crescena had a strange look upon her face a second before Penumbra burst into the room, head swiveling until wisteria orbs locked with cornflower ones. Bolting up from the couch, the blue-skinned young woman shoved her siblings into one corner and stood protectively in front of them while she locked eyes with the Moon Lieutenant. She failed to see the Moon-raised female’s eyes soften ever so slightly as she came to stand a few inches away from her. Looking at them now, one could see how the Earth-raised female was a good several inches higher than the other, nearly making her about a foot taller than the Moon visitor whose forehead barely made it to her chin. The four ducks and Moon General came in just in time to see the stand-off. As Penumbra continued to eye the new female, her she found herself observing every inch of her.

She took in the slender structure of Crescena’s face, her firm and strong posture, that remarkable red mane and light blue eyes which could only have been brought about through the Earther’s messing with her Moonlander genes, though the warrioress could barely complain. She looked at the clothes that, although were quite good at covering her, still allowed her to see the curves and build of the redhead’s body. A sting of anger and pity shot through Penumbra as that came to mind. This female had been robbed of every right and privilege that the citizens of Tranquility had gotten since they were born. The adopted McDuck charge had never known the quiet and secure life of a Moon civilian. She had no idea what it meant to be a Moonlander. Never had the chance to wear clothes made of woven gold. Never had the chance to live and walk under and endless starry sky whose visibility was never threatened by light pollution. Never knew what it was like to be with someone like herself. Well, she was going to change that, one way or another.

Unconsciously, she raised a golden-gloved hand but quickly stopped when Crescena took a few steps back, cringing as though the lilac-colored soldier’s touch was more acidic than Moon-mite saliva. Penumbra didn’t know why, but the way that the Earth-raised female acted as though she was averse to shocked her as well as making her heart hurt a little. The sound of the doorbell ringing tore Beakley away from the scene as she hurried to go answer it.

“This is unreal,” Penumbra murmured, shaking her head in disdain.

“Well, that’s one thing we can agree on,” Crescena said with a firm civility that made it sound polite but was saying secretly disguising the tone that said that she really wished it _was _unreal.

“All this time, you were here,” the Moon Lieutenant continued. “A Moonlander was on Earth. And we didn’t know.”

Crescena wanted to shoot some remark about how it would have been better for everyone if it stayed that way but she didn’t. She was annoyed and still a little angry, but she wasn’t about to let herself act like the scorned ex-girlfriend or high school mean girl from a cheesy teen movie. She refused to give the lilac-colored female any evidence that she had struck a chord or was getting some reaction from her. Lunaris seemed to take the intense quiet between the two females, along with the equally tension of the three remaining adults who were staring between the soldiers and their kids with barely contained worry, as he made his decision. Quickly, he gently pulled a surprised Penumbra to stand behind him as he stood before the young redhead, offering her a polite smile. It took all he had to not look offended or shocked when she visibly tried to fight back a flinch, almost as though he snarled a threat at her. He felt like a child who had tried to pick up shiny object only for it to be swiped by a Crater-Stinger. Clearly, she was not willing to be forgiving or friendly to the ever so slightly older Moonlanders so soon after seeing the second-in-command’s violent side.

Before Lunaris could even have a chance to introduce himself, Scrooge beat him to it, “Kids, these are General Lunaris and Lieutenant Penumbra. They came here from the Moon via the rover.”

“So that’s why we haven’t gotten any video feedback from the Moon!” Huey gasped before his brothers and the girls slapped their hands over his bill too late.

“Video?” Penumbra hissed as she looked back at the adults. “You said that they only sent that machine to collect Moon minerals!”

“Yes, but rovers also take pictures of the stars,” the adventurous Duck twin explained in a unafraid and calm tone.

“So, it could have revealed our city!” the Moon Lieutenant snapped as she took an intimidating step towards the female duck.

In less than a second, the blue-skinned young woman stood between the female duck and the lilac-colored soldier, the latter’s mouth dropping open a little due to how fast the slightly younger female moved. The bright pale blue eyes were now narrowed dangerously, like an predator ready to kill just to protect their pack. Penumbra felt a shudder of apprehension at the ferocity along with something else. If she didn’t know better, she would describe it as…arousal. Little did she know that her superior had silently gulped as he too felt such emotions.

“Heaven Almighty, Bentina. You weren’t kidding.”

Everyone turned to see that Mrs. Beakley had returned, but not alone. Beside her was a female goshawk, the one who spoke, with cedar feathers and hickory brown hair in a bob. She wore a black dress suit with a white button shirt and black tie beneath. Her cinnamon eyes zoned in coolly at the new arrivals. Behind them were four others, two avian anthros and two canine anthros, three male and one female, dressed in heavier suits, most likely hiding weapons.

“Flurry?” everyone except the two soldiers gasped.

“The one and only,” the goshawk gave a dry smile.

“I’m sorry, who is this?” Lunaris suddenly asked with perplexity.

“Ms. Nora Flurry here is a friend of mine from the organization I retired from,” the British duck explained in as-a-matter-of-fact tone. “She was the one who helped legalize Crescena’s adoption papers. I called her here so she better handle the situation.”

“Kids, go to your rooms,” Donald ordered sternly but with a gentle tone.

The triplets, Webby, Lena, and Violet dashed out the door, Crescena following behind, casting one more glance suspicious glance at the two soldiers before following her younger siblings out of the room.

As soon as they were gone, Flurry said knowingly, “I take it you all didn’t get off to a good start.”

“It’s been quite a day,” the mother of four shrugged.

“I can tell,” the female goshawk’s eyes softened ever so slightly. “Listen, I’ll take these guys back to, well their landing spot, and you four tend to the kids. Especially, Cress.”

Penumbra, who was now standing beside Lunaris as both faced the group of Earthers, squeezed her eyes shut and grit her teeth. To hear them speak so calmly about the situation, as though their people hadn’t trespassed on her planet, as if they hadn’t created one of her people and then raised her with their pathetic Earther ideals, wasn’t anything to get upset over. She felt a hard nudge in her side, courtesy of the Moon General. She knew it as a signal to calm herself and as a gesture to see if she was alright. Looking up at the mint-colored soldier, she saw that he had conflicted expression painted across his face as well.

Their attention was redirected as Flurry turned towards them, “Alright, if you two would please follow me so we can leave McDuck and his family in peace, I’ll be taking you two back to the spot you arrived at.”

Without warning, Penumbra snapped, “She’s not yours.”

“Pardon?” the indominable agent inquired with quirked eyebrow while everyone looked surprised.

“You have no right to keep her here, away from the rest of our people,” growled the Moon warrioress, her fists shaking as they clenched. “She is _NOT_ an Earther. She is _NOT_ one of you.”

A subtle gasp caused everyone to stop and turned to the door just in time to see a flash of red hair streak by.

A look that shamed the fiercest storms sieged over the Scottish drake’s face as he slowly turned to his S.H.U.S.H. ally and spoke with barely contained anger, “Please escort these two from my property, Flurry.”

Nodded firmly, the female goshawk narrowed her cinnamon orbs onto the shocked Penumbra and the horrified Lunaris, both of who winced as they heard the echo of a door slamming throughout the mansion. When on of the agents, a female canine, reached a hand out to gently guide the second-in-command towards the door, she gasped as the lilac arm was ripped away and a golden-gloved fist was raised in warning.

She didn’t get far when Flurry, just as quickly as Crescena had, got in between the lilac-colored female and her fellow agent and said with a warning tone, “You need to settle down right now and quit making trouble, missy! You just jumped on thin ice with what you said about Crescena, so I suggest you stop while you’re ahead before something else takes a turn for the worse.”

As the experienced avian and the female Moon guardian stared each other down, another one of the younger agents, a male finch who was looking at his phone, piped up in a startled and nervous voice, “Uh, Flurry?”

“What is it, Clay?” the female goshawk asked as she turned to look at the agent who spoke.

“You might want to see this,” Clay said as he offered his phone to the indominable agent, wincing as she took it.

The moment she set her eyes on the screen, they widened to comical proportions (which was rare for the composed woman), before she groaned and showed the phone whilst saying, “Well, isn’t that just damn peachy.”

Both Moonlanders and the four adults of the manor leaned in to read the title of the social media page which depicted pictures of the two Moonlanders sitting uncertainly on some worn-out looking car seats. The picture’s themselves appeared to have been taken from an angle that got their faces with a bit of their legs and torsos. The caption below had this in capital letters;

_STRANGE VISITORS! IS SCROOGE MCDUCK’S FAMILY INVOLVED?_

Beneath it, it showed pictures of the manor’s inhabitants, particularly Crescena.

Scrooge bit back a curse as he growled, “Beakley, _make _sure to remind me to phone that pizza parlor.”

To this, Beakley gave a clipped nod, “Dutifully noted, sir.”

“I don’t understand. What does this mean?” the Moon General asked with puzzlement and concern.

“It means that if we don’t go now, you’ll be facing a _special _breed of Earthers called the paparazzi,” the experienced avian said harshly. “And they are far from pleasant. Would you rather face them or would you rather go home?”

As the Moon Lieutenant opened her mouth to get a nasty retort, the Moon leader quickly slapped a hand over her mouth and said quickly but professionally, “Understood. Come along, Penumbra.”

“We’ll check in later tomorrow to see if Cress wants to give these guys another chance,” Flurry said with a simple nod to her older acquaintances before following her colleagues who were already ushering Lunaris and a reluctant Penumbra out the back doors.

“Take your time,” the short-tempered duck called out in a aggravated voice.

He didn’t know if they heard him. He hoped they did.

* * *

_Well, that went well_, Lunaris thought sourly.

Miraculously, there were no signs of news crews trying to break down or climb over the manor gates as the two visitors from the Moon were led to a large, black van where Clay quickly unlocked before the two got in. Getting himself comfortable in his seat, Lunaris turned to face the seat in front of him when, out of the corner of his eye, he saw a flash of red in one of the closer windows. Excited, he turned to look.

That excitement quickly vanished when he saw that it was not the adopted McDuck charge. Instead, the mint-colored male saw that the six Earther youths had seemingly disobeyed their elders and were currently staring straight at him, as the tinted windows to the van were down. He quickly offered them a smile and wave as Flurry appeared and entered the van. But whereas the girls awkwardly and curiously waved back, the boys shot him a rage-fueled glare that frighteningly reminded him of the manor’s owner.

The last thing he saw before the windows and it began to drive away were the three sticking their tongues at him with pure disdain.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For anyone who has read my Marvel/Ducktales AU crossover on fanfiction, you know Flurry is my OC based off of Nick Fury. I know this isn't a Marvel crossover, but I couldn't resist using this OC.


	5. Lost Child of the Moon

As Lunaris breathed as he stepped onto the Moon, or rather the labs of Tranquility. Upon opening his eyes, he and Penumbra were greeted with familiar golden walls and the sight of two other Moonlanders. One was a male with a similar build to him but had a sharper face structure and wore more gold armor than the Moon leader. And, unlike Lunaris, beneath the helmet was a mane of white hair and in his halter was a golden sword. The other Moonlander, a female, was the same height as Crescena but with an hourglass figure. Her skin was also dark violet and her eyes were a bright aubergine. Her own velvet purple hair was in a bun with two golden sticks and her attire consisted of a golden dress that was similar to that of a Qipao dress. In her hands, she had a large golden rectangle with knobs and buttons on it. Both Moonlanders appeared to be immensely relieved to see their fellows as they ran up to them.

“Are you two alright? What happened?” the cobalt male asked urgently as he got close enough.

“Calm down, Obscurin,” the female said as she gently placed a hand on his shoulder before turning to the newly returned soldiers. “Let them tell us.”

Whatever either Moon leader or Moon warrioress had to say was cut off by banging on the door and a male voice asking, “Ephemeris? Obscurin? What’s going on in there? Did the General and Lieutenant return from Earth? What’s happening? Can we come in?”

Obscurin sighed in frustration as he turned to the two Moonlanders in question and explained, “Basalt and Annulus snuck in and heard Ephemeris and I speaking. And because of their inability to keep a secret, half of the city is on the other side of the door.”

“Just as well,” Lunaris spoke with a sigh of his own. “Better they all hear this. Ephemeris, let them in.”

The female looked reluctant for a second before obeying her city’s General and going to the door where she put her hand on the panel that would open the door. The moment the door slid open, a hoard of frantic, excited, and bewildered Tranquility citizens charged in and surrounded their planet’s guardians, effectively separating them from the other two. Voices filled with anticipation, fear, and uncertainty filled the air as a few went as far as pushing to get either soldiers’ attention. Meanwhile, the cobalt male and violet female tried to push their way back to the center where they returned counterparts were.

Finally, having had enough, Penumbra shouted in a dangerous tone, “Everyone be quiet! The next person to shove or shout, I’ll have Obscurin throw you into the cells!”

That certainly got them to silence themselves as Lunaris spoke, “Thank you, Penumbra. Now, as you all know, the Lieutenant and I just recently returned from Earth after transporting there via the Earther tech we found.”

Excited and nervous whispers began to hum around the room, but nothing higher than that. Everyone recalled when the two protectors of the Moon had brought back the foreign machine. No sooner had they presented it to Ephemeris, the top scientist and medic of Tranquility, did she immediately begin to investigate and tinker with it under the watchful eyes of Lunaris, Penumbra, and Obscurin. Nearly an hour after she finished tinkering did a small portal open for a minute, startling all of them to death, before closing. However, a single red leaf had found its ways through the portal and at the feet of the four Moonlanders. After a bit more careful thinking, and logical speculating, they found that the machine had come from none other than the blue planet itself.

While Penumbra and Obscurin demanded that the device be destroyed, Lunaris and Ephemeris quickly objected, pointing out what use they could make of the device and its ability to transport them to Earth. In the end, it was the scientific Moonlander and Moon General who won the argument as they spent the next two days planning what to do. Before they left, the Moon warrioress and Moon leader made the violet-colored female and cobalt-colored male promise that, if they didn’t return by the end of the day, the warden and doctor would be in charge. Now, after all this, they faced a new situation that they never thought in a million cycles would happen to them.

“We spoke to a few of the Earthers,” Lunaris began, causing a round of gasps and fervent whispers to resound before continuing. “And though they admitted to sending the mechanism, rover is what they call it, they have no intention of invading us. They only sought to gather samples of Moon minerals as well as pictures of the stars.”

“They don’t even regard the Moon as a planet!” Penumbra burst out, resulting a wave of gasps and an annoyed look from her superior.

“The Earthers don’t think our planet is a planet?”

“Wait, so we hid away all these years for nothing?”

“General Meridian was wrong?”

Lunaris closed his eyes and fought down a surge of anger as he heard that last one. As much as it pained him to admit, his father had essentially allowed the Earthers to put fear in him from what may have been nothing at all. Then he remembered what the family of McDuck manor had told him. Before his passing, Meridian had always told his son that with being General came the burden of making tough decisions. The Moon leader’s deceased father had confessed that some choices did not always serve as the best solutions but that was part of being a General. Now, that was the only thing that seemed to make sense.

He took out a golden disk with a blue button, not unlike the green ones on his and his second-in-command’s communicators, that served as the signal that told Ephemeris to reopen the portal. He handed it back to her before pulling out a black box shaped object that had a small screen and a red button. It had been given to him by that Flurry Earther, saying that it was a way for them to communicate while she spoke with her superiors and leaders in regards about what they were to do now that the Moonlanders species had been found out.

_“For the moment,” _she had told them as she and her fellow agents arrived at the forestry spot the two had been in upon arriving on Earth. _“We won’t ask that you give back the rover. We’ll talk to the people at NASA, those are the ones who made it, and explain the situation. However, until we got this whole thing figured out, you two will be the only ones allowed on Earth. And please, if you can, keep yourselves out of sight from the public.”_

It had not been hard to agree with the terms but he had so badly wanted to ask if they would be allowed to speak to Crescena, but considering the less-than-perfect first impressions, he should refrain from asking. He had only given her a firm nod as he got out of the car before calling for Ephemeris.

One of the citizens, a stone-washed cyan-skinned male named Nebulos caught sight of the object in the mint-colored soldier’s hand and pointed while speaking, “What’s that?”

“This is a device given to us by one of the Earthers we met,” Lunaris explained as he held up for them to see. “It will allow us to contact them or for them to contact us.”

“We can talk to Earthers?” a pale lavender female named Libra inquired.

“Can _we _go to Earth?” a pale blue-violet male named Mascon asked excitedly.

Immediately, mesmerized ‘oohs’ and ‘ahs’ rang throughout the room. Penumbra’s neighbors, an older couple named Gibbous and Zenith, whispered with their other neighbor, a single stout female named Palus. Meanwhile, Penumbra was fighting to keep the gold-colored flush of anger from overtaking her whole body. It was already bad enough to find out one of her own had been created and raised on Earth, but to hear that her people wanted to see Earth for themselves? When the Abyss was illuminated!

“Unfortunately, for the moment, the Earthers had made it clear that only the Lieutenant and I are allowed on Earth,” the Moon leader explained, causing a few to groan. “Time will tell if they say we are all welcomed to come and go as we please.”

“What else did you see while on Earth?” a fern-green, male miner named Albedo asked.

“Other than the Earthers, nothing,” Penumbra huffed, though inside she added, _Except one of ours_.

She wasn’t sure if she should dare mention _who _they found on the Earth, but her fellow warrior decided for her as he announced slowly, “And we discovered that this isn’t the first time they sent one of their mechanisms to the Moon.”

Everyone fell quiet with caution and bewilderment as Ephemeris and Obscurin finally made it back into the center to stand with their friends, the former asking, “What do you mean?”

Sharing a look of slightly hesitant understanding, the Moon General sighed and spoke, “There’s something we should tell you all.”

* * *

As the Sun began to slowly descend past the horizon, where it would gift another part of the world its light, the sky above Duckburg was painted with hues of rose, lilac, tangerine, and goldenrod. Crescena normally would love to stare at the setting Sun and admire how the colors gave way to a star-filled sky. But she knew that if she looked long enough, the Moon would come into view and it was the very _last _celestial body she wanted to lay eyes on right now. She rubbed her face into her pillow which was still damp from the tears, caused by Penumbra’s words that rang loud than the bells of Notre Dove.

_“She’s **NOT **an Earther. She’s **NOT **one of you.”_

Remembering those not-too-long-ago words made a fresh set of tears spring to her eyes, forcing her to furiously rub them away. She was use to the cruel taunts, particularly of her enemies, that reminded that the blood factor would always be the one thing in her life that would threaten to separate her from the family that she had loved all her life. _Her _family. To hear that someone who basically shared the same species as her say that was just a slap in the face. It also made her think back to the drama movies she would see that regarded a person being caught in a fight between their adoptive families and their biological families. She felt a wave of panic wash over her. Would they take her away from her family? She tried to tell herself that they wouldn’t dare but the firmness of the Moon warrioress’s tone spoke otherwise.

Looking back now, she wished she had stormed into the room and gave Miss High-and-Mighty of the Moon a good, old-fashioned backhand across the face instead of running away like a vulnerable kindergartener. What was even more humiliating was that she knew everyone had saw it. Her mother, uncles, grandmother, Flurry and her team, and even the two soldiers had seen her run off like frightened doe. And her siblings and Launchpad, who was totally unaware of the whole ordeal and was bring them all Peps and chips, had seen her run into her room and slam the door as tears ran down her face like a newborn’s. So, here she was; hurt, humiliated, and confused just like she was when she nine and Big Time Beagle and his brothers had-

A knock on the door broke her train of thought as Della’s voice asked, “Sweetie, it’s Mom. Can I come in?”

“Okay,” the redhead said, glad that her voice didn’t sound as weepy.

The door opened to reveal the mother of four herself holding a plate with piping hot slice of Beakley’s apple shortbread pie with a scoop of sea salt ice cream which was one of favorites (actually, pretty much everyone’s favorite). Della shot her oldest a warm smile, though inside it killed her to see her oldest child look like she had heard the most heartbreaking secret in her young life. And she would be lying if she said that she herself didn’t shed a few tears of hurt after Flurry took away the uninvited visitors of the Moon.

Striding to the bed, she sat down and offered the plate while saying, “Your grandma made a real treat tonight. And she’s letting everyone have some even though we haven’t had dinner yet!”

The blue-skinned young woman couldn’t help but chuckle as she took the offered plate, now just realizing how hungry she was. She began to take small bits, enjoying the buttery crust, spiced apples, and topped by the sweet, creaminess of the ice cream, emphasized by the sea salt. After she was done, she placed the plate on the lampstand before giving her mother a grateful smile.

“Thanks, Mom,” the blue-skinned young woman smiled.

“Anything for my baby girl,” Della said gently before her brow creased and she sighed. “I’m sorry you had to hear them say that. But you have to know, what they say doesn’t matter.”

“Then why did they say that?” Crescena blurted out, hating the tinge of desperation and loss in her voice. “What does it matter if we’re the same species or not? I was born and raised on Earth. I’m more like you guys than them in everything but physical.”

“We know that, baby,” the air-craft loving Duck twin soothed as she grabbed her daughter’s hand. “Sometimes people say things, hurtful things, when they’re confronted with something that scares them and think that they have no other way to respond.”

“You, Uncle Donald, Uncle Scrooge, and Gran never saw anyone like me, but you weren’t afraid of me,” the adopted McDuck charge pointed out.

Della smile, “You’re right, I wasn’t. But we were afraid of how we were going to raise you. Those F.O.W.L. agents didn’t leave us a lot to go on so we weren’t sure what to do. And being new to motherhood didn’t help. I was so scared that one wrong move would make you sick, hurt you, or worse. It was such a mess. Those first two weeks, I had trouble sleeping because I just wanted to keep you happy and safe. When I finally realized how resilient and determined you were, I felt like a fool. Hell, I was only half as surprised as your uncles when we saw all the stuff you could do.”

It was true. Throughout her childhood, during her adventures with her family, Crescena had demonstrated many capabilities. At the age of four, she discovered she could run faster than most other people. Perhaps not as abnormally fast as dear Uncle Storkules but fast enough to leave her enemies in the dust. Her strength, while paled in comparison to the deity’s, was impressive as she could lift three large crates in one hand by the age of seven. Year eleven brought about her agility, sharp senses, and her healing factor, the third revealing itself when she broke her arm while sledding in January of that year only for it to heal completely in thirty-eight hours. When she and her family went to Hawklona Beach, she found that she could hold her breath for a good chunk of time while playing with her siblings. And upon reaching fifteen, when her brothers and Webby went to the Andes with them, an attack by some Beagle Boys had led to the children be separated from the adults. The kids had somehow ended up closer to the top, the air dangerously thin. Crescena had practically begged them to take her oxygen tank. Even as they had waited hours, the redhead had never succumbed to unconsciousness as people were suppose to, according to the cautionary tails of her uncles and mother. When they were finally found, everyone had been astonished but grateful for yet another one of Crescena’s surprising gifts. Looking back now, after what she learned, she believed that the ability to survive without an atmosphere was due to her Moonlander genes.

Of course, she was also forgetting another surprise that occurred when she was nine, but…well, she didn’t want to delve into it.

“I’m not trying to say you shouldn’t be mad at what was said,” the adventurous Duck twin soothed. “But I think you should try giving them a chance. Let them share what they have to teach you. And in turn, share things with them. Be the proof that the Earth and the Moon can co-exist.”

Crescena subconsciously reached to her neck and fiddled with the choker’s charm. It had been a birthday gift, courtesy of Duckworth. His gift to her prior to his death. He had been as much as a father figure to her as her uncles had been. After his passing, the blue-skinned young woman had sworn she would not lose anyone else or let anyone or anything be taken from her without a fight, no matter what came her way. Now, it felt as though that promise to herself was being threatened.

“Can’t I just stay your daughter?” the adopted McDuck charge practically begged.

Della felt a lump in her throat as she pulled Crescena close to her, the Earth-born Moonlander’s response being to lay her head in her mother’s lap while feather fingers ran through her locks while the air-craft loving Duck twin whispered lovingly, “You will always be my daughter. You just have people from another world who were shocked to meet you but still want to get to know you and show you your heritage.”

“If being a Moonlander means you have to try and murder anyone who doesn’t see the Moon as a planet, then I’m happy to just be an Earther,” the young redhead whispered quietly.

“I think that only applies to Lieutenant Penny. I’m sure everyone else on the Moon are just as nice as Lunaris,” the mother of four laughed, earning a giggle from her oldest, before biting her bottom beak and saying. “I wasn’t supposed to tell you this until tomorrow but Flurry called. Word got out about our new visitors and Flurry is currently in a conference with everybody involved in the space jump project, her superiors, and some big tops from the government about the whole situation. So, the whole family is gonna need to keep a low profile for the time being.”

“Got it,” Crescena nodded, though she looked a little tired at the knowledge that all the members of the mansion would have to be walking on eggshells for a while.

“Also, in a couple of days, your uncles and I are gonna head to Ithaquack to have a talk with a certain Moon goddess about all of this,” the Duck matriarch continued, sounding both longing and worried.

“Why? I mean, I know Selene is the Goddess of the Moon, but if she knew about life on the Moon, she would have told us,” the blue-skinned young woman objected before adding. “You don’t think she deliberately withheld information…do you?”

The worry that was fading returned like a candle being relit. She couldn’t fathom that the sweet, playful, and wise goddess would do anything to hurt her or her family. She refused to even entertain the idea that the sister of the equally kind and endearing Storkules had any ill intent to those she considered friends. Selene, who showered her and the entire family with gifts of beautiful, silk cloth, foods like fresh grapes and sweet baklavas in any flavor, and fanciful artifacts that were lost for centuries. Selene, who would weave flowers into her, her mother’s, and Webby’s hair while recalling stories of the Scottish drake and Duck twins in the days before the arrival of their children. Selene, who taught her how to ride Pegasus, archery, and how to play with nymphs. Selene, who would sing her and her siblings to sleep whenever they stayed overnight at Ithaquack (which was rare, thanks to her father, Zeus). Selene, who had been like an aunt/godmother figure. Selene, who Crescena realized at age sixteen, cared for her mother as so much more than a friend, evident by the touches and adoring looks that the Moon goddess and mother of four would give each other when they thought no one was watching.

“Of course, I don’t believe she would,” Della said in her most sincere tone and smile before adding in a determined voice. “But we gotta figure out what’s up, okay? We would take you kids along but we don’t want you kids to witness if Zeus throws one of his Super-Tantrums. So, while we’re gone, you and your siblings need to stay in the mansion for a day or two, alright?”

“Alright, Mom,” the young redhead nodded in understanding with a smile at hearing her mother mock the childish King of Greek Gods.

“Good,” Della smiled as she kissed her daughter’s temple. “I love you.”

“I love you too,” Crescena said as she got up to hug her mother.

As the two women embraced, the Sun bid a final goodbye as the Moon made its grand entrance with the stars, unknowing of the conflict happening between the family of McDuck Manor and the lunar body’s inhabitants.

* * *

Louie was a fan of taking it easy and enjoying a slow, quiet pace, but _this _was too much for even him.

He was currently in a circle with his brothers and the girls, all of them looking at a loss for words and just downright uncomfortable. Huey was thumbing through his Junior Woodchuck Guide as though he was searching for answers but didn’t really seem to be taking in the words. Dewey was scrolling through his phone absent-mindedly, seeming to be just as lost in thought as the red-clothed triplet. Webby was twiddling her thumbs, looking like she was waiting for a reprimand or reaction herself. Lena had her arms cross and appeared to be avoiding eye contact as she glanced about as though she had never seen the room before. Even the composed Violet was struggling with keeping interest in a crossword puzzle book she pulled out.

Sighing, Louie took his hands out of his sweater pockets and folded his arms, he spoke, “Okay, I’ll say it. Those Moonlanders are awful and I am really hoping that they are banned from Earth for life.”

“Normally, I would say that that behavior is ignorant and extreme, but I think I have to go with you on this one,” Huey quickly said as he shut the guide.

“Here, here,” Dewey added firmly as he out his phone down.

“Shouldn’t we give them another chance?” Webby inquired before adding sheepishly. “It’s only fair. We barely know anything about them.”

“They threatened to hurt our Mom and made our sister cry!” the youngest of the brothers protested as he stared at the bubblegum-clothed female duckling in utter disbelief. “They’re jerks! What’s there to know more about?!”

“Technically, it was just the Lieutenant who did those things,” Violet objected. “The General didn’t do anything.”

“Exactly! He just let that crazy, Moon-lover do and say whatever she wanted!” the green-clothed triplet sighed.

“And when you see someone do or say something cruel and you don’t stop them, you’re just as bad as they are,” the eldest of the triplets said knowingly, his blue-clad counterpart nodding.

“Not to downplay what those two did, but this family has had worse happen to them,” the young sorceress remarked casually. “Plus, Pink has a point. So, these two weren’t the best apples in the bunch. Maybe the other Moonlanders will be nicer.”

“That’s if Flurry manages to get them permission to come here,” the middle triplet muttered. “And I’m pretty much hoping they don’t get that permission.”

Webby gapped at her usually open-minded and friendly male counterpart, “Dewey!”

“Look, I’m not trying to fool myself. I know Cress is going to leave the mansion and go off on her own someday, probably meet someone have kids with them,” the adventurous triplet said in an understanding voice. “But that doesn’t mean I want her to suckered into befriending a group of people just because they look like her.”

Before anything else could be said, the door open and Beakley poked her head in before saying in a calm and polite voice, “Children, it’s dinner time. Also, Violet, I called your family and told them that you’ll be supping with us this evening.”

“Thank you, Mrs. Beakley,” the female humming bird chick nodded with a grateful and polite smile as she and the others followed the undauntable housekeeper out of the room and to the dining hall.

Hooking an arm around his middle brother, the logical triplet said reassuringly, “Don’t worry, nothing is going to take Cress away from us before the right time. And she certainly won’t be whisked away by some elite members of a lunar civilization.”

* * *

Obscurin rubbed his temples as he dealt with the news that his city’s leader and top warrioress just told him. He felt like this was all a dream courtesy of some spoiled food or a bad fever. For Moon’s sake, he had been secretly pinching himself during the whole explanation but had only had succeeded in nearly bruising his own arm. The only reason he wasn’t developing a headache was because of the silence of the conference room that he, Ephemeris, Lunaris, and Penumbra were in. He opened his eyes to see that Ephemeris herself was staring at them with wide eyes, as though she had never seen either before. Lunaris and Penumbra, on the other hand, just looked at the two other Moonlanders with expressions that revealed nothing but seriousness.

“Let me see if I understand this,” the warden of Tranquility said, indigo eyes narrowing. “You’re telling us that the Earthers had sent one of those machines to our planet years ago and that they found a biological piece of our people’s existence that they used to make a Moonlander?”

“Basically, yes,” the mint-colored male nodded sincerely.

“And this Earth-made Moonlander, Crescena, has been raised by the Earthers her whole life and didn’t know what she was until she met you two?” the healer of lunar city inquired.

“Horrible, I know,” the lilac-colored female groaned. “Worse part; she’s been exposed to the Earther’s for so long, I think she’s _actually_ complacent with her life. She even calls the female Earther, Della, who insists that the Moon isn’t a planet her _mother_. It’s so bad, she acts like we’re the enemy.”

“If this Della Earther raised her since infancy, then she is a mother by definition,” the violet female.

“And it didn’t help the way you were acting or the things you were saying,” the Moon General added, his mind rewinding back to that unpleasant first-time interaction.

“Wha-!? Don’t tell me you think that I’m the reason for why she doesn’t know how to associate with other Moonlanders!” the Moon Lieutenant snapped incredulously.

“Penumbra, you were acting hostile the entire time,” the mint-colored soldier said sternly. “You gave her no choice but to respond back with aggression. Frankly, it’s a little upsetting that couldn’t control yourself.”

“What are you trying to say?” the lilac-colored soldier demanded, three-quarters angry and a quarter offended and hurt.

“Penumbra, Lunaris, please,” the violet-skinned woman begged, sensing the rising tension.

“All I’m trying to say is that she had never seen anyone like her before and that you didn’t behave in a manner that made her feel that she could trust us,” Lunaris said firmly, giving his second-in-command a sharp glare, before adding in a softer tone as he heeded Ephemeris’s pleas. “But I agree that it is unfortunate that she spent her childhood thinking that she was the only one of her kind. She deserves a chance to know us better. All of us. And our home.”

“What are you two getting at?” the cobalt-colored male asked in a cautious tone.

“Those filthy, Moon-depricating, idiot Earthers wronged us by manufacturing Crescena, one of our own, and forcing her to live their lifestyle,” the Moon warrioress huffed in aggravation. “So, we need to do what’s right and bring her here. Once she sees our way of life, she’ll realize we have so much more to offer and she’ll be where she belongs. With us. And, in time-”

“No.”

Three pairs of eyes widened in shock as they focused on the warden who was currently crossing his arms and gave a defiant glare at the two protectors of the city, looking like a disapproving father.

“What?” Lunaris finally managed out after a moment of surprise.

Sighing in dread of what was to come, Obscurin began, “Look, remember when we were children? We found that baby Crater-Stinger and we made it our pet?”

“Cratorus?” Ephemeris echoed, recalling the small scorpion-like creature that would crawl on her arm without stinging her.

“Yes. And remember how he got out?” the cobalt-colored male inquired patiently like a teacher asking their student to solve a problem, waiting for them all to nod before adding. “And when we found him, he had had been killed by another Crater-Stinger?”

Everyone seemed to wince at the flashback as they recalled the tears of regret, the slight empty feeling, and the isolating coldness that enveloped them for a few days. It had been their first time witnessing death and a wake up call to obey the laws of nature.

“And your point?” Penumbra finally inquired gruffly as she tore herself out of memory lane.

“My point is that you cannot take a living being who has grown accustomed to a certain life and expect them to thrive in another environment, even if their species originated from said environment,” the Moon warden said with no trace of faltering. “It’s not practical or logical.”

“So, you’re saying we should just…leave her there?” the Moon warrioress croaked out in something akin to horror, though her face radiated anger and disbelief.

“If she has been fine with the Earthers all this time, there’s no reason she can’t remain with them indefinitely,” Obscurin continued unashamedly as he stared hard into Penumbra’s eyes. “And Penumbra, you just told us she struck you to the ground when you attacked this Della you speak of. No one aside from Meridian and all the other late soldiers of our childhood could do that to you. What does that say?”

“That’s she a capable fighter,” the Moon Lieutenant spat. “Just like you, Lunaris, and I.”

“It says she’s very close to her adoptive Earther family,” the cobalt-colored soldier sighed in frustration. “She has no need for us and her life has no room for us.”

“You don’t know that,” Lunaris suddenly protested as he sat more upright, Obscurin’s words making him feel something displeasing, though he didn’t know that was.

“And I suppose you do?” the Moon warden inquired with an unimpressed tone. “I mean, what do we know about her other than she was made by the Earthers and raised by them? Did either of you two even talk to her? A one-on-one or two-on-one conversation, perhaps?”

Both soldiers looked startled and then a little embarrassed as they shared a look that clearly said that they foolishly did nothing of the sort. Obscurin sighed as he rubbed the space between his eyes, the same way an Earther would rub the bridge of their nose. It’s not that he didn’t respect either of the soldiers that he adored like siblings. But he swore that, sometimes, they still acted like emotional rookies.

“That’s what I thought,” he mumbled as he looked back up at them with a little more softness. “I’m not upset that you two went to Earth to investigate. Now we that we know the Earthers never planned to invade us, thank the Moon, we can work on finally expanding Tranquility again once we’ve found a solution to the Moon-Mite problem. But other than establishing a sort of peace with the Earthers, no one here should be permitted to go to Earth and the Earthers should not be allowed on the Moon, _at least_ not without proper clearance.”

Seeing their eyes gain a glimmer of petulance, he said more firmly while getting up from his seat, “I can see that you two are going to go ahead with whatever you plan you have storming in your heads, but be warned that I will not be an accomplice to it. I have soldiers to train and patrol to take care of, so this conversation is over. I bid you all goodbye.”

With that said, Obscurin headed to the door, and with one hand press to open it, exited the room. When the door shut, Penumbra angrily slammed a fist down on the table, effectively leaving a dent in the otherwise blemish-free gold.

“Penumbra!” Ephemeris scolded. “Calm yourself! Obscurin was only sharing his concern. To be honest, I’m surprised you didn’t agree with him. You also hate the Earth.”

Penumbra didn’t answer as she harshly stood up and proceeded to leave the room as well, grumbling under her breath the entire way.

Sighing, the Moon scientist looked to see that Lunaris didn’t seem to acknowledge that his second-in-command left. He had his elbows on the table and his hands interlocked with his chin resting on the makeshift apparatus that they offered. A thoughtful expression was etched onto his face as his teal eyes held a far-off look.

“Well, I better get back to the lab,” she said as she, just as quickly as the other two, arose and headed to the door. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Lunaris.”

He only offered her a wave of the hand as the door closed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, yes Ephemeris and Obscurin are my OCs. And I gave some names to the Moonlanders as well.  
Basalt-the blue male Moonlander who was standing beside Palus with a bag of gold while Della was telling a story about the Gilded Man  
Annulus-the tall green colored male who was standing beside Palus when she asked if they could go to Earth and smile hopefully in "The Golden Spear."  
Nebulos-the light blue male who yelled 'Oh No' at the end of "The Golden Spear"  
Libra-the female who shouted "I have a distaste for the Earth!" in "Whatever Happened to Donald Duck?"  
Mascon-a canon Moonlander mentioned in the Ducktales Wiki voiced by Keith Ferguson. I think he's the one who called Drake a weirdo.  
Albedo-the male Moonlander in "Whatever Happened to Donald Duck?" who was sleeping when the Crater-Stinger (That's what I'm calling the scorpion-like creatures) crawled onto his head and made him giggle.
> 
> And I think those buff Moonlanders we saw were the miners of Tranquility and weren't shown because they spend most of their time mining gold (of course).


	6. A Little More Than Talk

Crescena’s eyes snapped open and were met with darkness as she heard the sound of her phone notifying her of a message. At the same time, she heard the grandfather clock downstairs chime three times, telling the occupants that it was three in the morning. Scrunching her eyes in annoyance, she grabbed her phone and opened it to the messages, wondering who it could be. It was too late for even Louie or Lena to be on their phones. She was expecting to find a text from Fenton, Gandra (they had traded numbers), Launchpad, Quackfaster, Gyro, Storkules, Manny (don’t ask her how he could text with those hooves), or even Flurry.

But she froze in surprise and confusion when she saw it was the unknown number.

Sitting up in bed, she read the new message;

_Hey, are you there?_

Confusion and nervousness rose in her until she remembered Fenton’s reasoning, which caused her to calm down a little and type, saying it aloud as she did so, “Who is this?”

After a few seconds, she got a response;

_Someone looking for a friend._

Feeling a little silly for being so apprehensive, she types back, “Are you sure you have the right number?”

_Isn’t your name Crescena?_

Nervousness, and now aggravation, rose back up as she responded, “Who gave you this number?”

_I just found it. I was desperate and I needed someone to talk to._

“Are you a Beagle Boy? Because if you are, I will come down to the junkyard right now and kick you and your brothers so hard in the heads, you won’t even remember your names or ages,” she snapped as she typed furiously.

_Whoa! Slow down! I’m not a Beagle Whatever!_

She felt her palpitating heart slow but not by much as she typed, “Then are you…a Moonlander?”

_What’s that? Some member of an astronomical elite society?_

She couldn’t help but smirk a little as she continued, “Okay, then who are you?”

_You can call me Teri._

“Okay, Teri. How did you get this number? You’re not a hacker or cyber-stalker are you?” the redhead typed carefully.

_Nope. I’ll admit, I’m good at engineering and I do fool around with computers, but I try to keep illegal activities like hacking on my List of Last Resorts. _

“Well, that’s good,” she said, calmness making its way into her but she couldn’t resist making sure. “Just so I know who you are, let me ask you a question.”

_Ask away. _

Taking a deep breath, she types, “Two days ago, I found the 3D printer at my work making something. What was it?”

_A blue crescent moon. _

She felt a surge of alertness arise in her as she replied, “Did you send the signal to the printer?”

_Yes. To be honest, I was just trying to get anyone’s attention. I found the connection to a 3D printer that belonged to a Mr. Scrooge McDuck. Thought it was a literary lover’s pen-name so that’s why I did it. I saw your name was part of the personnel who were allowed to use it and that’s what inspired me to do it._

“But why? What do you want? Do you need help?” she asked, feeling a bit curious and anxious.

_I highly doubt if I told you my situation, you could get anyone to help. And I don’t know who I can trust. _

“Well, you’re talking to me. That must mean you can trust me,” the blue-skinned young woman pointed out.

_Well, you got me there._

She smiled before typing, “When and where can I meet you?”

_That’s another problem. I’m having trouble getting out of wherever I am._

“Are you lost? Are you stuck somewhere? Have you been abducted? Man, I’m really starting to sound like Webby. Or maybe she sounds like me. I don’t know,” she asked, not typing the last three sentences.

_I’m somewhere that I would never even wish my worse enemy into. _

Pity and fear for this Teri filled her heart as she asked, “What can I do to help?”

_Just talk to me. And be on the ready incase there is something you can do. I’ll find my way out of here eventually. We’ll meet when I do._

“Okay. But how will I know it’s really you when we meet?” Crescena asked in confusion.

A five minutes passed before a response finally came.

_I got it! I’ll keep sending orders to the 3D printer and you keep track of them. Meanwhile, tell me some stuff about you. Not major stuff, just stuff that is normal but not known by a lot of people outside your family. Favorite food, first pet, least favorite movie, etc. _

Crescena bit her lip in conflict. She wanted to do something, but she recalled all the Stranger Danger talks and stories of harmless media relationships that spiraled into something sinister. However, she could practically sense the lost and desperate tone in the messages. And if he really had intents to hurt her and her family, would he have done so? She’s always managed to avoid trouble, at least when she wasn’t on adventures, but would this really lead to trouble? Or would she be helping someone in desperate need of help? If worse came to worse, she knew she could handle it. And she could always prepare for the worse.

So, as the Moon shone down on her through the window, she typed, “Alright.”

* * *

The past four days had not been some of Lunaris’s best. He couldn’t step out of his home without one of his people running up to him to greet him before asking if he got the okay from the Earthers so they could go to Earth, only for him to tell them no. Obscurin and Penumbra had been giving each other the cold shoulder since the conversation in the conference room. A Mite had gotten past both warriors during one of their patrols and took a large chunk out of the miners’ barrack units. Thankfully, no one had been hurt but the miners’ and builders were not pleased with the extra work. Lunaris prided himself on knowing he kept everyone, from the strongest and durable architect to the meekest and humble civilian, safe and this was a blow to his confidence. Every night, he would stay up for a few hours, eyeing the device with the same expectation that his people shared, though it was more tamed.

But what really had him antsy was his thoughts about Crescena.

What was she doing at this moment? Was she in the manor or out and about around the city known as Duckburg? Who was she spending time with outside her adoptive family? What was on her mind? That last one got to him. He wondered if she was thinking about him and Penumbra. About the fact that, after all these years of believing she was the only one, she discovered that people like her lay just above her on the Moon. Well, not _exactly _like her in certain physical traits. Ones that he found incredibly appealing.

It wasn’t that the Moon-born females of his city were less attractive. In fact, he had found himself attracted to quite a few of them when he was saying goodbye to his childhood years. However, seeing Crescena had…done something to him. Her fiery hair that matched her ferocity in protecting her family. The shocking bright blue eyes that could turn from something so innocent and unblemished into a sharp focus against her darker complexion. He wondered of what she thought about him. He already knew that it was more than likely that she disliked Penumbra, but perhaps, just perhaps, there was still a chance for him to have some civil ties with her.

It was that reason why he was currently stood in front of the lab doors, knuckles raised to knock. Hesitancy poked its unwanted head as thoughts about what Obscurin said creeped to the front of his brain. However, thoughts of Crescena and the way that Penumbra’s words must have touched a sore spot were quick to shove his doubts back to the recesses of his of his mind. He refused to allow Penumbra’s behavior to imprint into the redhead female’s mind that her species were nothing but insensitive and harsh creatures. He would show her the compassion and understanding that he had so badly wanted to express to her the moment she appeared and defended Della from Penumbra’s pride-fueled rage.

Knocking on the golden doors (as if they would be made of anything else), they slid open and he was greeted with the familiar face of the Moon scientist. Ephemeris still had her hair in a bun, but it now lacked the sticks. Like most of the women in Tranquility, the violet-colored female chose to keep her hair up and out of her face. He recalled how the Earth-born Moonlander’s locks behind her back and over her shoulders like ribbons. The Moon General wondered what they would feel like if he were to tangle his fingers into-

“Yes, General?” the healer of Tranquility inquired, looking both confused and a little impatient.

“Good day, Ephemeris,” the mint-colored soldier greeted as she allowed him to enter the labs. “How are you?”

“Well, Nadira visited earlier to inquire if I had anything to help her garden stay hydrated,”  
Ephemeris said with a simple shrug. “Other than that, I’ve just been keeping an eye on the rover.”

“Good, don’t want anyone to fool around with it,” Lunaris said with an approving nod. “May I ask a question?”

“You may,” the top doctor nodded.

“Second, I want to inquire about the rover’s teleportation abilities. Particularly, if it’s possible to control where it can teleport someone to,” the Moon leader questioned gently.

Ephemeris looked surprised for a moment before saying, “Well, to answer you that in the quickest way possible, yes. It appeared that there is a slew of locations listed in its memory card. One of them was the place you and Penumbra visited. Duckburg, I believe.”

“But is it possible to teleport to a specific living quarters or space in Duckburg?” the Moon General insisted.

“I’m sure it’s possible. If I just heighten the focus and hit the right coordinates, it can be achieved,” the violet-colored woman said proudly before her tone became suspicious. “Why do you ask?”

The mint-colored man sighed, knowing there was no use hiding it, as he replied, “I wish for you to teleport me to a place called McDuck Manor. It’s where Crescena and her Earther family live.”

“Are you sure?” the Moon scientist asked carefully. “I mean, I’m aware that you and Penumbra were given permission to come and go, but are you certain that it’s a good idea? I mean, you two didn’t exactly leave with them thinking highly of you two. What if they’re still angry?”

“It’s a risk I have to take. We left her thinking that we’re nothing but unkind barbarians. I want to show her that isn’t the case,” the Moon leader reasoned, almost desperately. “If we wait any longer, it could become too late for an apology.”

Ephemeris bit her lip, his words having a stand-off with her convictions in her head, before relinquishing, “If Obscurin finds out, he won’t be pleased.”

“I hate to pull rank, but I am General of the Moon. There’s nothing he can do to me,” Lunaris said determinedly, eyes narrowed with a refusal to be dissuaded from his mission.

“Very well, just give me some time to set it up,” the healer of Tranquility agreed as she went over to the where the rover controls were, still a little unsure on the inside.

In truth, she wasn’t the only one.

* * *

Outside the manor, a gentle autumn breeze wafted through the trees, shaking them free of their colorful leaves, leaving room for birds and squirrels to clamber on. Crescena sighed as she sank lower into the warm water while scrubbing her neck and shoulders with soap that held hints of honey, orange, and vanilla. It mingled with the smell of the apple cinnamon candle that sat lit on the bathroom sink. Near her sat a tray that held a plate of orange-cranberry-walnut shortbread cookies, a glass of pear cider, and three cozy mystery books; _Kernel of Truth _by Kristi Albbotross, _Buzz Off _by Hannah Redwing, and Darci Heronah’s _Cherry Pies & Deadly Lies_. After reading classic novels like _The Old Curiosity Shop, The Great Gatsbeak, _and _The Twelfth Nightingale_, the redhead loved to indulge in the still-interesting murder mysteries of the modern day.

And she needed this day of pampering. The days following the discovery of the Moonlander civilization had been a frenzy, to say the least. While her uncles, mother, and Beakley tried to steer her and the other six away from the News channel, they found it inevitable. They couldn’t even go on their phones, computers, or tablets without finding news notifications depicting interviews with Kroe, NASA, and so on. Walking to work was no longer an option as a rookie journalist had been caught following the manor’s inhabitants when they went out for ice cream the day after meeting the Moonlanders. The family had never been more thankful for Donald’s temper. Today was actually suppose to be a work day but Quackfaster, tired of news crews trying to get into the Bin to harass her protégé (who couldn’t even eat her apple, brie, and bacon panini in peace without her phone blowing up), had given her the day off. The blue-skinned young woman couldn’t really complain.

The one thing that did bug her was knowing that her family were targets for the media’s scoop-hungry intent not just because Lunaris and Penumbra had been exposed and revealed to have visited them, but also because of _her_. It seemed that everyone in Duckburg had suddenly began seeing her for the first time, not as a person minding her own business, but as someone completely different from them. An _alien_.

The only upside was her conversation with Teri. He was highly sympathetic as well as comforting. Over the last few days, he tried to cheer her up with jokes and stories. It almost worked. Almost. He also continued to make his presence known by having the printer make different shapes. A yellow butterfly. An orange leaf. A purple lightning bolt. Thankfully, no one, not even Tacca, had learned of her newfound friendship.

Shaking her head, she reached over and engulfed a cookie in less than three bites before taking a long sip of the pear cider before she heard a knock at the door, “Yes?”

“Lass, your mother, Launchpad, and I are heading out,” Scrooge’s voice rang out. “Beakley and your Uncle Donald should be home soon from the market. Keep an eye on the young ones until then.”

“I will. Watch out for Roxanne Featherly,” Crescena called back, still surprised and unhappy that she would have to remind her family to look out for the normally docile newswoman.

As she heard the sound of footsteps fade away, she looked outside. It was such a beautiful day and she couldn’t enjoy it without worrying about the media. Suddenly, she angry with herself. Why should she be afraid? Surely, even though she could not go into town without everyone now gawking at her, she could enjoy the area around her home and backyard! She had no reason to be afraid to just go into the gardens! As unshakeable as the Duckburg journalism and news businesses were, they knew where to draw the line. It was only the rookie journalist who had made the near-suicidal move. Finishing her snack, getting out of the tub, and drying off, Crescena began dressing for a nice day out, even it wouldn’t be that far.

Little did she know that she was about to have an unexpected visitor.

* * *

“I can’t believe that worked,” Lunaris murmured as he took a few steps around, taking in the familiar scene of the manor’s front porch. “A little too well, perhaps.”

Although he was nervous about the idea of facing any of the Earther occupants of the mansion, he thought he would have a little more time to think about what he would say to Crescena or her family. He was almost tempted to signal Ephemeris to reopen the portal so he could come back another day but he shook the thought from his mind. He didn’t back down back at the labs and he wasn’t about to do so now. Squaring his shoulders, taking a deep breath, and clasping his hands behind his back, he strode to the front door.

However, as he drew closer, he thought of what to say or how to start the conversation, but everything seemed so forced or mundane. And, as much as he didn’t want to confess, he feared their reaction. Would they listen to him, give him another chance, attack him with words and fists, or just slam the door in his face? He was hoping it would be one of the first two. Upon coming to stop a foot away from the door, he unclasped his hands and prepared to knock. But just as his gloved fist was about to make contact with the wood, he heard what a laugh. And not just any laugh.

He listened for it again, quirking his head as he did so. Barely ten seconds later, he was greeted with the sweetest and liveliest laugh he ever heard. Quietly but quickly heading to the source of the sound, he peeked around the corner of the house just in time to see a familiar flash of red that made his heart speed up. Without thinking, he ventured forward. Climbing and hopping over any sizable obstacles, he eventually found his way into the garden. Despite autumn rushing onto the scene, the garden still had more than a couple of flowers blooming to mix with the colorful fallen leaves. The topiaries, bushes, and trees also seemed to be in great order and health. Several ornaments, a bird bath, a fountain, a tire swing, and a large concrete structure with a sword in it, decorated the space alongside the flora. However, the real prize was who walked among it.

Lunaris gaze soon fell on something that made every last doubt shriveling into nothingness. While her hair still remained as it had when they first met, she now wore a dandelion-colored, tie strap sundress with hot pink roses on the hem. What really caught his eye was more of her blue skin showing. Again, the women of his planet showed skin as well, but for her to show skin made something stir inside him. She half laid, half sat on a canopy porch swing, not seeming to have noticed the Moon General. A soft smile painted her lips as a Monarch butterfly landed on her bare shoulder, fluttering its wings as it rested. The whole thing made him feel excited and warm at the same time. It was then that he realized that he was breathing hard and almost _drooling_, like a starved Moon-Mite in the gold mines. How embarrassing!

_Focus, Lunaris!_ _You need to find out what you’re going to say, _the mint-colored man told himself sharply.

Taking a deep breath, he took a step forward…only to freeze when he heard a loud snap under his foot. He sucked in a hiss of air as he looked down to find a dirty, dry twig, now cracked in two, under his boot. The sound of crunching leaves caused him to look up and feel his heart drop when he saw the swing was empty. He ran into the middle of the small clearing and looked around frantically, hoping to catch a glimpse of her, but sadly found none.

“Damn it!” he swore.

“Hey!”

He whirled around and felt his heart leap into his throat when he his teal orbs connected with cornflower ones. She had the same firm and unwavering look she had days before, a disapproving frown on her lips as her arms were crossed. It was all her had to not let it show him undressing her with his eyes. The wording made him blush a little.

“We don’t curse in front of children on this planet,” she said coolly. “And you’re not as quiet as you think. The Moon may be silent, but here, trying to be sneaky is a bit more complicated.

It was then he realized that, behind her, minus the red-clothed duckling, five familiar children eyed him in surprise and apprehension. He cringed as he realized he was once again presenting himself as a inconsiderate figure. Whilst the girls appeared more relax, the two male ducklings glared at him like he was a criminal. Sweet Luna Mater, it was like they were trying to burn holes into his soul.

“Forgive me. I am not familiar with watching my tongue around children,” the Moon leader quickly apologized. “We don’t have them on our planet.”

“You’re not allowed to have kids on the Moon?” the redhead inquired, coolness dropping to give way to confusion and what looked to be concern.

“Well, no, we are but we tend to wait for the right time to start procreating,” Lunaris explained politely, looking back at the children.

“Because you have limited resources or because you can’t expand without the Earth seeing you?” she probed.

“The latter,” he confirmed softly.

She paused, lowering her arms before saying, “Guys, go back inside the house.”

The five seemed startled, Lena speaking, “You sure? Should we call one of the adults?”

Lunaris tensed up when she said that but quickly relaxed as the blue-skinned young woman shook her head, “It’s fine. General Lunaris just wishes to talk. Don’t you, General?”

“Yes!” came the response that made the male Moon guardian blush harder with how quick it was. “I would like to speak to your sister in privacy, if I may that is.”

The five obliged, the preteen female duckling ushering them in, all five of them looking over their shoulders nervously until, they entered the house, the Earth-born Moonlander asked, “Your Lieutenant didn’t come along, did she? I mean, she’s not waiting in the bushes waiting to get back at me for landing a hit on her, is she?”

“I can assure you that Penumbra has not accompanied me,” the Moon leader confirmed. “What’s more is that I would like to apologize for her callous behavior. We grew up together. She was raised and trained better to act that way.”

“Well, I appreciate you for being a gentleman and coming all this way to apologize. It’s noble of you,” the adopted McDuck charge said with a polite smile mirrored by the mint-colored man before adding with a frown. “Though, I’m sorry that she didn’t come here to tell me herself and it had to come down to you having to make an apology for her. I can’t imagine putting up with her behavior. You really have earned your title as General.”

“Penumbra isn’t so bad. She had her moments,” the Moon leader reassured, quickly fearing that standing by his second-in-command would offend her but all she did was offer him another smile.

She began to make her way towards the swing again, making a gesture for him to follow. He had no objections in following her. However, two certain ducklings did as they glared at the unaware man through the windows before dashing up to their room. Watching her back, he saw her name sake; a pale sky-blue crescent-moon shaped mark with three little dots lay a few inches beneath the nape of her neck, a perfect sign of her Moonlander heritage. He also noticed the crescent-moon charm on her neck. Truly, if the universe was telling him that she was indeed from the Moon, it was succeeding. Sitting down, on the right side, he felt his nerves twitch at how closer he was to her as he took in her legs, waist, bosom, shoulders, neck, and lips.

Meanwhile, Crescena was sneaking peeks at the General’s person as well. Looking at him now, she realized he had quite the muscular physique. In fact, she was just realizing at that moment that his cape and shorts revealed the smooth skin of his chest and abdomen. His face was also quite pleasing to look at it with a strong jaw line and slender but strong neck. She felt herself look away whilst a blush bloomed on her cheeks, unaware that he was looking at her with equal interest.

_Get a hold of yourself! _Crescena told herself firmly.

_Say something! _Lunaris screamed to himself.

As he opened his mouth to speak, Crescena beat him to it, “My mother, uncles, and grandmother aren’t here, unfortunately. But I will tell them you apologized for your Lieutenant. And I think we owe you an apology.”

“You do?” the Moon leader said a little confused and startled.

“Yes, we didn’t mean to disrespect your home,” Crescena said biting her lip. “It’s beautiful so we all thought it was barren. We never thought there was a civilization thriving on it.”

“You can thank my father, the late General Meridian, for that,” the male Moon guardian sighed heavily. “He claimed that mysterious objects were being launched off of the Earth, which we now know were objects like the rover. So, he made hide away in fear.”

“I’m sorry. Believe me, the Earth didn’t mean to make your people feel threatened,” the redhead insisted apologetically. “They just wanted to get closer to the stars.”

“But one group did have an interest in the Moon,” the Moon leader insisted without warning. “The people who somehow found a biological sample of a Moonlander.”

He instantly regretted it when she froze and then looked down at her lap, “Yeah.”

“You didn’t deserve that,” he said, instantly regretting what he said.

“It’s fine,” she reassured him, placing her right hand over her left hand. “Look, I won’t lie to you. There are some bad Earthers here. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t good ones. My family and I can attest to that.”

“They saved you and raised you, even though they didn’t know what you were,” the male Moon guardian replied softly. “I can trust what you’re telling me.”

“And if you want to have the rest of Earth to recognize your home and people with the respect you want to be given, then you can,” the adopted McDuck charge insisted. “I mean, it’ll take time and convincing, but I’m certain it’s possible.”

“You know, I think I will,” the Moon General said as he thought it over in his head. “Hopefully, Miss Flurry gets back to me soon.”

“I’m sure she will, General,” the blue-skinned young woman nodded, staring at him with those bright pale blue orbs.

“Please, call me Lunaris,” the mint-colored soldier whispered loud enough for her to hear him, barely comprehending that he had moved closer.

“Do others just call you Lunaris?” the redhead chuckled.

He shrugged casually with some polite playfulness, “Most do.”

“Alright then, Lunaris,” she said softly, looking sincerely into his eyes, not knowing his heart was hammering as hard within his chest as hers was.

Neither were aware of the three ducklings watching them from one of the manor’s upper story windows. After rushing to their room, the two younger triplets had pulled the eldest away from his geography homework and towards the window where he too frowned at the sight of the newcomer sitting with Crescena. Although they could see a little of their big sister and the mint-colored man, it was obscured due to the swing’s canopy. Huey kept silent while the younger two grumbled.

“Of all the days for Mrs. B to hide her spy surveillance stuff,” Dewey huffed.

“We don’t need it to know he’s probably flirting with her,” Louie hissed.

“How do you know that?” Huey asked in confusion, sneaking his youngest brother a quick glance.

“First of all, a guy who wears gold isn’t looking for handouts via befriending a family member of Scrooge McDuck,” the clever triplet explained knowingly. “And two, if the other Moon women are anything like that purple one, then of course he’s going to be attracted to someone with Cress’s personality.”

“Are you sure?” the red-clad triplet asked.

“He was practically trying to keep himself from looking at her chest!” the last-to-hatch almost screamed. “Trust me I know the look. I’ve seen like two or three guys do it since she was fourteen.”

“Should we call Mom or someone? What about the police?” the middle triplet asked.

The intellectual triplet shook his head firmly, “Mom and Uncle Scrooge are busy and Uncle Donald and Beakley probably have their hands full trying to get home without getting tailed by news reporters. And he hasn’t done anything yet to warrant the police. Besides, Cress said to let her handle it.”

Both younger brothers looked like someone had poured pure lemon juice on their tongues. They weren’t against a man talking to their sister. But with the impression that the General and Lieutenant left them with, they were in no hurry to trust Lunaris so soon. Suddenly, out of the corner of his eye, Dewey saw something that made his eyes widen before running over to it, causing his brothers to tear theirs eyes away for a moment to see what he was doing. Their mouths dropped open as the blue-clothed triplet pulled out his red-clothed counterpart’s Junior Woodchuck bow and arrow. While Huey shook his head in shock, the green-clothed triplet smirked as he opened the window.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa! What are you doing?!” Huey hissed in disbelief.

“We’re gonna chase that guy out of here!” Dewey said with determination, Louie standing between him and their big brother so that the bow and arrow wouldn’t be taken away.

“If you hurt him, you could get everyone in trouble,” the eldest brother snapped frantically.

“We’re just gonna scare him off,” the youngest brother objected. “Let him know our sister isn’t that kind of girl.”

“By attempting assassination?” the intellectual triplet said in a disbelieving and exasperated tone.

“I’m not gonna aim at him,” the adventurous triplet insisted as he pointed at an old lantern that had been up there since six Januaries ago. “I’m gonna hit that and it’s gonna fall and break. Hopefully, it’ll freak him out so he’ll want to leave.”

“Less talking, more aiming!” Louie whispered sharply to which his second eldest brother obliged.

“I can’t watch,” Huey moaned, covering his eyes, feeling embarrassed that he, the eldest, was acting like a shy hatchling.

As Dewey aimed and began pulling back the arrow and bow string, he said in a tough-guy voice, “Smile you son of gun.”

“What are you guys doing!?”

The sudden shout has taken them all by surprise as the blue-clothed triplet let go of the arrow before he and his brothers turned around to see the girls staring at them in confusion and surprise, the shout having come from Violet. Outside, the arrow had indeed caused the lantern to fall but rather than it the ground, it landed softly on a bush, startling a non-anthro crow that took, off, grazing a branch filled with acorns that lay just above the canopy. The acorns height led them to hit the top with hard _thunks_. Now, the porch swing itself was far from ancient but, as it had been through some of the elements, there was always something that needed repair. That something was the chain holding up Lunaris’s side of the swing. The bombardment of acorns caused it to finally hand in its card as it broke and caused the Moon General to fall to the right, while Crescena, who had also been taken by surprise, tumbling after him.

“Whoa-!”

“Aah-!”

Both noises of surprise were cut off as their mouths them connected. Mild surprise turned into shock, as they both realized the situation. Neither had been hurt, as the General’s back met soft moss combined with his own cape and the adopted McDuck charge had fallen right on top of him. His arms cupped the small of her back while her hands braced her against his broad shoulders, their chests flushed together while her hair semi-hid their faces. The white pupils of teal and cornflower orbs had dilated immensely as they registered the warmth of each other’s lips. Finally, after what felt like forever, Crescena tore herself away and bounded off while shouting an apology as she fled inside the house, her brother having closed the windows and hidden long before.

Ever so slowly, Lunaris pushed himself up, mouth still agape as he touched his lips, heart threatening to burst. It was…_enthralling_. He licked his lips, tasting the residue of the sweetest ambrosia he ever had. His entire face matched his attire, stumbling as he stood up, legs feeling like softened stalks of small plants. The mighty Moon leader barely even registered that he was smiling dreamily with half-lidded eyes. He felt breathless, exhilarated, and refreshed all at the same time. Her natural scent, along with scents that were no doubt Earther, were pleasing as they were strong but did not take away from the sweetness of the lip-to-lip contact. How he wished that he had gotten the chance to delve deeper, to hug that luscious, soft and firm body closer, run his fingers through her locks, and let his tongue explore her own. He wanted more. He _needed _more. He was prepared to run after her, consequences from either Moon or Earth be damned, if he-

“Hey! What are you doing here?!”

The familiar garbled voice caused Lunaris to snap out of his euphoria as he turned to see a startled and irritated Beakley and Donald staring at him. All at once, the mint-colored man felt like a naughty pre-teen caught in the act. The British duck coolly narrowed her eyes at the announced guest while Donald was practically heaving like a furnace about to overload, a tomato hue making its way to his face. The Moon guardian fought to not gulp in apprehension and harder to not sigh a little in relief upon seeing the older female of the duo place a firm hand on her younger male partner’s shoulder, making him relax but only by a slight fraction.

“Greetings, General Lunaris, this is quite a surprise,” the undauntable housekeeper murmured, tone civil but obviously saying that he had done some wrong by coming there while she and the adults were away. “We were not expecting you.”

Regaining his senses, his cleared his throat and replied, “Yes, well, I just thought I would come to apologize on behalf of my Lieutenant.”

“If she’s an adult like you, she could have come and apologized herself,” the sailor-suited drake snapped, causing Lunaris to flinch a bit.

“Donald,” Beakley reprimanded in a gentle but stern voice. “And have you apologized to Crescena?”

Before he had a chance to respond, the three girls came rushing in, the bubble-gum clothed duckling saying, “He sure did! He said ‘Sorry’, ‘Please’, and ‘Thank You’.”

“And Cress accepted his apology,” Lena added with a calm, small smile.

“Where is Cressie and the boys?” the short-tempered duck asked.

“She went inside to make sure the boys weren’t getting into the Shadow Knight’s suit again,” Violet quickly spoke. “And then we think she went to her room to read and the boys are hanging out in their rooms.”

Donald said nothing as he hurried the way Crescena went to go inside the house, only briefing casting a distrustful look at the visitor before Beakley followed him while saying, “Well, it was nice to see you again but we have a house and family to tend to and you have a whole city and soldiers who must need you. So, I bid you a good day. Girls, see this gentleman to the exit.”

The girls nodded as the retired agent disappeared into the house, leaving the three young girls with the adult Moonlander. Just as Lunaris was about to say something, he gasped as a purple aura appeared around him and he found himself levitating, the energy pulling him along with the girls who were heading to the garden exit. He was so startled by this, he didn’t even struggle. Suddenly, the aura lifted him higher before lowering him on the other side of the gate and setting him gently on the ground.

The young sorceress then spoke, “Look, we won’t tell our family about what happen if you promise that you won’t brag about it to your buddies on the Moon.”

“You have my word that I won’t tell anyone,” the Moon leader confirmed sincerely, the thought of letting anyone else know of the pleasuring experience made him want to hide it like a rare gem.

“And, for what it’s worth, we can tell that you want your people get to know Crescena and form some kind of bond with her,” the intellectual young chick added. “She deserves to get to know where she came from. Or rather where her DNA came from.”

“You’re correct,” the mint-colored soldier nodded with a relieved and hopeful smile.

“And, plus, Cress should be allowed to be with anyone she wants,” Webby put in, eyes widening as she realized her words. “I mean, you know, in the platonic sense. But the non-platonic sense is okay too!”

“Alright, Pink, settle down,” the cool-headed preteen said as she patted her giddy friend’s back before looking at the Moon General and saying. “So, I guess we’ll see you around.”

“I suppose so,” Lunaris replied, the bubblegum-clothed duckling’s words swarming in his head

“Well, not to rush you out but you should probably hurry back,” Violet jumped in. “Before Mr. Duck decides to come back out.”

Lunaris didn’t think the portal could have appeared fast enough.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The books are Ducktales parodies of real cozy mystery books by Kristi Abbott, Darci Hannah, and Hannah Reed. Also, Nadira is what I call the light blue/cyan female who said "Oh my" in "Golden Spear" and who stood near Zenith when she inquired about Della's betrayal.


	7. Making Decisions

Penumbra stood topless in front of her rooms mirror, her gloves and helmet gone, leaving her in her uniform skirt, boots, and her bra. She didn’t so much stare at her reflection as she stared at the fading bruise on her stomach, courtesy of her confrontation from Crescena. Normally, if someone struck her, she would find some way to return the favor, unless she was really impressed with their moves. And the Earth-raised female had impressed her with how quick she was to attack and defend those Earthers she called family. It made her angry how such a skilled fighter grew up surrounded, not by her own kind, but by inferior creatures who failed to recognize the diamond in the ruff that was the redhead. She would like nothing more than to grab the blue-skinned female and bring her to where she really belonged. The tricky part was to get the Crescena to see that the pathetic Earth-ideals were a farce and how the Moon was far better. The lilac-colored woman doubted that the slightly younger one would come quietly.

_Knowing all the garbage those damn Earthers drilled into her head and her fighting style, it’s not going to be easy, _Penumbra thought in frustration.

The scenario of having to wrestle temporary submission into the other sent a strange feeling through her. She could see herself holding the adopted McDuck charge under her, face down while muffling grunts and arms trapped behind her, writhing to free herself from what she saw as a death trap. All the while, the hero of the Moon would have her face buried into that rich, dark mane, taking in her scent while pressing her full weight onto her. Of course, it would be somewhere so that no blasted Earther came by. Soon enough, Crescena would forfeit the fight as she realized there was no breaking away. But just as she was sure that Penumbra would strike her, the Moon Lieutenant would soothe her by whispering gentle, encouraging words which would make the fear-filled light blue orbs relax and soften. Having ceased her thrashing, the lilac-colored soldier told her about the many great things that Tranquility was known for while running her hands all over her frame. Then, the redhead would smile, like she did in those pictures hanging about the mansion like trophies and ornaments of the Earthers bragging about the time they’ve spent with her.

Suddenly, the scene changed completely. Crescena would turn onto her back, somehow breaking out of the Moon warrioress’s grasp, before immediately gripping the smooth but strong shoulders. And without warning or second-thoughts, Penumbra would lean down and nuzzle her neck as their bodies began gyrating and sweet little moans began to emit from her mouth while hands found their way-

Penumbra blinked and realized the hand that had been grazing her stomach had drifted to inch down her skirt, a strange warmth following close behind.

“What the Abyss?!” the second-in-command hissed as she ripped her hand away. “Calm down, Penumbra! You just met her!”

Same-sex couples and bi Moonlanders were not forbidden in Tranquility but Penumbra was not like the rest of her people. For as long as she could remember, she never allowed herself to act lovey-dovey with any admirers or suitors. In contrast to Lunaris, Penumbra had one or two relationships which barely lasted for an Earth month. It was hard, but the truth was that Penumbra couldn’t stand the thought of being in a relationship that could end disastrously. None of her partners had been cruel or unloving, but she dreaded the idea of what would happen if her or them got hurt or worse, leaving the other in a wreck. As far as she was concerned, being alone was preferable to putting herself or someone else through so much pain.

The heat fully evaporated as a loud knock made her jump and Ephemeris’s voice spoke, “Penumbra? Are you there?”

“Yes, what is it?” the lilac-colored woman yelled as she quickly donned her shirt, gloves, and helmet.

“Lunaris says to meet in the conference room,” the Moon scientist replied seriously. “The Flurry Earther wants to speak to us via the communication device.”

Penumbra opened her door just as the violet-colored woman finished her sentence, eyes narrowing apprehensively, “Did she say anything?”

The healer of Tranquility shook her head as she continued, “Lunaris asked her to wait until he got all of us together.”

“All of us?” the Moon Lieutenant echoed, confused by the wording.

“Some of the civilians want to hear what’s going on,” the Moonlander doctor shrugged helplessly. “They insisted on it. Plus, they got the miners and builders on their side.”

The female Moon guardian rolled her eyes as she and Ephemeris began making their way to the room, grumbling sarcastically, “Oh, aren’t we just going to _love _their reactions.”

* * *

“So, this is it,” Obscurin announced loud enough for only himself and Lunaris to hear, switching between watching as his brother-in-arms and leader fiddled with the device to the civilians looking on curiously from the other side of the room. “Are you certain you’re prepared for this?”

“I’m very certain,” the Moon General said firmly, not looking at his cobalt-colored counterpart.

“Are you okay?” the Moon warden asked concernedly. “You haven’t been yourself lately.”

“What do you mean?” the mint-colored man inquired in a tone that was confused and ever so slightly held a tinge of defensiveness.

Keeping his voice in a civil tone, the swordsman of Tranquility began explaining, “You have been…off. Your appetite has become erratic, you’re looking more tired, and Penumbra even says you’ve been distracted on patrols.”

“You and Penumbra are talking again?” the Moon leader inquired with a playful smirk that Obscurin only half-returned.

“Don’t change the subject,” Obscurin stated. “It’s been like this since your little trip to this Crescena and her family. Did something happen?”

The male Moon guardian pressed his lips tightly together, knowing the reason for all of this. It had been three days since his apology to Crescena and their inadvertent kiss. His stomach burned with a hunger for something that food could not quench. Sleep was now filled with tempting dreams in which the kiss was not broken but delved into something more…exotic. And more than once, such dreams were abruptly interrupted by his sudden awakening, leading to him screaming curses into his pillows and dreading the rest of the day. The times where he was distracted on patrol were the consequences of his interrupted dreams. But recalling the words of the three young Earther girls, he did not wish to let his friend know.

As he opened his mouth to give some response, Penumbra and Ephemeris appeared and all the whispers from the group of Tranquility’s citizens fell silent, knowing was about to come, none of them seeing Lunaris’s relieved face that said, _Saved at the last minute._

“Let’s get this over with,” the Moon warrioress announced stoically.

As the two women came to stand with their male acquaintances, the Moon leader immediately pressed the button on the device before bringing it closer to his face and speaking, “Hello? Ms. Flurry?”

Barely a couple of seconds passed before the voice of the female goshawk replied, _“I’m here. And Flurry will be just fine. No need for the Ms.”_

The excited whispers and chatter of the civilians began to rise again as the mint-colored man continued, “You wished to tell us the verdict, yes?”

_“I do,” _the indominable agent replied patiently.

“And?” the lilac-colored soldier piped up demandingly, earning her a firm look from Obscurin and a gentle hand to the shoulder from Ephemeris.

_“After getting over the shock of finding out there’s life on the Moon, there was a long and thorough discussion,” _Flurry went on. _“And we’ve reached an agreement.”_

Everyone in the room held their breath.

_“We’ve decided, under some conditions, to allow your people to come to Earth” _came the reply.

The moment the civilians heard that, they all burst into excited shouting while the four all had mixed expressions. Obscurin looked to be in disbelief with a strong dash of dread. Ephemeris looked startled but even a little startled as well as a little eager. Lunaris appeared to be just as surprised Obscurin but was obviously much more pleased. Penumbra tried to look stoic and cool, but a glimmer of interest was in her eyes.

The Moon leader finally managed to say, “Thank you! I cannot express how grateful we are. When may we bring our people to Earth?”

_“Well, I think we’ve all kept you and yours in enough anticipation,” _the experienced avian said calmly. _“So, how about tomorrow in the morning?”_

“That would be more than acceptable,” the mint-colored soldier confirmed with a nod. “Once again, thank you. We’ll see you tomorrow.”

Upon ending the call, the whispers and conversations of the citizens in the room began to become more audible.

“After all this time, we’re gonna finally see what Earth is like!” Palus gushed.

“And wonder what the Earthers are like!” Zenith chirped in.

“Do you think any of them would want to be friends?” Nadira inquired curiously.

“What about that Moonlander who was raised on Earth?” Nebulos spoke up.

Both Lunaris and Penumbra looked up, alerted by the implication.

“What was her name again?” Mascon probed.

“I believe it was Crescena,” Gibbous spoke helpfully.

“What is she like in person?” a young purple female named Breccia inquired.

“What do you even call a Moonlander raised on Earth?” a young purple male named Aphelion questioned.

“You call them an Earthlander, of course,” Basalt, who overheard the question, said proudly.

That pride did not last long as Penumbra was in front of him in less than five seconds before saying in a harsh tone, “Don’t you _ever _call her that again. Do you hear me?”

Basalt nodded furiously in shock and a little bit of fear before Obscurin spoke, “Everyone, please vacate the room.”

All the citizens quickly made their way out as Penumbra stomped back to her fellow authority figures, waiting for them all to be gone before ranting, “An _Earthlander_! That’s what they plan to call her?!”

“Lieutenant, relax,” the Moon warden snapped irritably. “You know how Basalt’s humor is like.”

“But now the rest of them are going to think it’s okay to call her that!” the Moon warrioress continued to rave in anger.

“They could call her worse things than that,” the Moon warden said with annoyance.

“Such things should remain unsaid, then,” Lunaris said in a serious tone, mind trying to keep him from the idea of any of his people bad-mouthing the Earth-raised female.

“Well, we can’t focus on that now,” Ephemeris interfered, fearing what was to come, not realizing the argument was already here. “We have to prepare for tomorrow. Hopefully, we make a better impression on the Earthers and this Crescena.”

“While I’m open to her interacting with the Moonlanders we bring to Earth, I can honestly say that I still remain skeptical about the concept of bringing her here,” the cobalt-colored man stated firmly.

“And why is that?” the lilac-colored woman asked in a harsh tone.

“Well, for starters, you have no idea what those Earthers who created her did,” the swordsman of Tranquility said calmly. “She’s breathed Earther’s atmosphere and embraced its elements her whole life. What if she can’t survive here? You could be risking her life and I want no part in that if that’s the case.”

Before anyone could get a word out, Obscurin continued, “On top of that, where would she stay? Chances are she wouldn’t adjust well if left alone, but we can’t ask any of the others if they would be willing to put her up. It’s not fair to them.”

“Then she’ll stay with one of us,” the female Moon guardian blurted out without hesitation. “I have some room.”

Ire and astonishment quickly crossed Lunaris’s face as he turned to his second-in-command, “I thought you disliked having a roommate.”

“I can put up with one if it means showing her how Tranquility holds more admirable qualities than Earth,” the Moon Lieutenant said in a confident tone before adding with a snort. “Don’t tell me you were going to have her stay with you.”

The Moon leader took this as a challenge and insult as he replied, “And if I was?”

“What?” both Moonlander doctor and soldier trainer exclaimed.

Penumbra looked just as perplexed as well as she managed out, “You can’t be serious. How are you so sure she’ll be comfortable with you?”

The mint-colored man looked both frustrated and confident as he replied, “I’m the one who went to Earth to apologize to her on your behalf, Lieutenant. Ergo, I’m currently the only one she trusts.”

“I can earn her trust too!” the lilac-colored woman snapped. “Besides, you’re a man. Others would talk if they knew she was staying with you.”

“Oh, and they wouldn’t think the same if-,” the male Moon guardian’s voice began rising but was quickly cut down.

“Enough!” the cobalt-colored shouted, causing both the two arguers and the violet-colored woman to jump. “You two are bickering like children. Ever since you’ve met this Crescena, you both have been behaving strangely. You are warriors of the Moon! Have some damn self-respect! And as far as I’m concerned, she won’t be staying with either of you. Before we can even think about even offering the idea of bringing her here, we need to decide if it’s possible. And I alone shall be the judge of that.”

Now it was the Lunaris’s and Penumbra’s turn to be surprised as they shouted simultaneously, “What?”

“I will speak with her tomorrow. Some questions will help better determine if she is capable of coming and adapting to Tranquility, therefore seeing if she can visit,” the swordsman of Tranquility said before quickly holding up a hand as his mint-colored counterpart went to speak. “No, Lunaris. This is not up for negotiation. Now, I need to alert the rest of the soldiers. I’ll speak with you both later.”

With that, Obscurin left through the exit where the civilians had gone, either not hearing or caring when Penumbra picked something up and threw it and Ephemeris scolded her, “Lieutenant!”

* * *

Crescena felt a guilty relief as Quackfaster once again ran out to grab herself a bite to eat for lunch. After finding out that the Lapis-colored woman had visited by members of her birth species, not once but twice, the Bin’s archivist began to become very protective of her pupil. She even snapped at the young custodian who would playfully flirt with Crescena. It was endearing but unnerving for the adopted McDuck charge to see her mentor and superior go from dramatic and sarcastic to motherly and downright feral. The only thing keeping her from staying glued to the young woman’s side was her schedule and her own need for some peace and quiet during her breaks.

As soon as the doors were closed, the redhead’s mind went back to what happened just a few days ago. She touched her lips as she recalled the warmth of the General’s lips on hers. The taste of his lips was foreign to her but far from bad. The way that his strong chest pressed so welcomingly against her own. How it felt to have his arms wrapped around her and the feel on his muscles under her hands. The genuine shock and little spark of enjoyment in his deep teal eyes.

She shook her head as her face turned a bright golden shade, “Stop it. Stop doing this to yourself. It was an accident. You don’t know if he really likes you.”

Her heart twisted as she allowed those words to escape her mouth. The exciting memory suddenly became dark and twisted. What if he thought she was easy? Or worse…what if she kissed a married man?! He said that no one on the Moon had a child but that didn’t mean that none of them were married. She hadn’t seen a ring but perhaps it was under his glove. Or perhaps Moon-born and raised people had different concepts of marriage. Crescena had never even entertained the idea of trying to flirt with a man who already had another in his heart.

She was snapped out of her thoughts when she heard the door, looking up and expecting to see the dramatic female duck mumbling about forgetting her wallet, but was instead greeted with a different familiar face, “Officer Cabrera?”

The police woman gave a small smile and wave to the blue-skinned young woman, though a look of worry and distress was visible in her eyes, as she greeted her, “Hello Crescena. You wouldn’t happen to know if your uncle was here, would you? I didn’t see his limo when I drove in.”

“No, I’m sorry. He had to go check on the lemonade factory. Some of the harpies got loose and he has a lemon inventory to help get locked up,” the adopted McDuck charge shook her head with an apologetic look. “Would you like for me to call him?”

“No, that’s alright, thank you. I’ll just go wait for him in the waiting room,” the Cabrera matriarch reassured the other, but the look in her eyes and the tired and word tone said otherwise.

“Has something happened?” Crescena asked immediately, feeling her heart pick up a bit in anxiousness. “Something to do with my family?”

“I really should wait for your uncle to get here,” Gloria said hesitantly.

“Is it that bad?” the Lapis-colored female asked as she took out her lunch.

“It involves the Sabills,” the older Latina duck said bitterly, causing the other to stop and stare.

The Sabills were a rich family of ducks, though far from being as rich as her uncle and barely reaching the same status of rich as Glomgold or even Beaks. They owned, or rather once owned a powerful pharmaceutical and cosmetology empire. She and her family would run into them once or twice every charity gala or high society dinner party. They consisted of Edwina and Deodat Sabill, the CEO couple and starters of the company. Then there was Agatha and Harvey Sabill, their daughter-in-law and son respectively. And then there was Jeremy Sabill, son, grandson, and heir to the empire. Or rather what was left of it. Practically a year prior, the Sabills were found to be importing endangered plants along with rare and illegal minerals to use for their products. On top of that, it was found that some of their products were as effective as a placebo, some even worsening the medical ailments and cosmetic issues of their clients. There were other scandals uncovered about the family, scandals which the older inhabitants of the manor fought tooth and nail to protect the children from seeing.

The only one with clean hands and a victim of guilt by association was Jeremy. Poor Jeremy had been horrified and heartbroken by his family’s lies and deceptions. It was so bad that in the October of last year, he had chosen to run away, leaving a note of how he had spiritually disowned himself from his family and had taken his unfaithful, lying father’s would-have-been next victim, a young Ms. Clementine Parrotson, with him. After the trial that had led to just about the entire downfall of their wealth and fame, which had taken about five months, the rest of the Sabills disappeared. While Crescena could care less about the rest of them, she felt nothing but pity for the youngest member. He had always been sincere and kind to her and her family, nothing like his stuffy and boastful parents and grandparents, whose interactions with the richest Duck in the world were only to brag about their accomplishments and sweet-talk him for funds.

“Did you find Jeremy? Is he okay?” the redhead persisted worriedly.

Gloria fought had to bite her tongue, but it proved futile as she sighed and came to sit down before speaking, “I’m going to get reprimanded but since you’re genuinely concerned, I’ll tell you. We did find a Sabill but it wasn’t Jeremy. And they weren’t alive.”

A cold chill shot through the adopted McDuck’s charge’s spine as she uttered out, “What?”

“We found what we believe to be the remains of Edwina Sabill last night on the outskirts of Duckburg,” the Cabrera matriarch sighed heavily. “She did not go peacefully.”

“Was she in an accident or-?” the Lapis-colored woman began before seeing the look on the older female’s face and feeling her stomach lurch. “Oh, sweet Selene…She was murdered?”

Gloria nodded grimly as she continued, “I won’t go into details. However, I must tell you that I was ordered to come down here to question your uncle in regards to where he was last night.”

Crescena took a step back as though she was spat on, while vehemently saying, “My uncle would never resort to murder! Besides, all the attacks by my family’s enemies made me a light sleeper. If anyone would know he left or snuck out last night, it would be me.”

“Calm down, sweetie, I trust you,” the policewoman said gently but firmly as she held up a hand to calm her down. “But I need to check with your uncle, regardless. Orders from the chief. He’s a suspect because of the episode he had with Deodat Sabill last August.”

“Yes, I was there,” the redhead said quietly as she looked down.

Prior to the trial and Jeremy’s vanishing, but around the time when the Sabills realized that trouble was heading their way, they attempted to come to Scrooge for help. However, Harvey had, in his arrogance and certainty that the richest duck in the world would help his family, allowed his wandering eye to go unchecked. The Earth-raised Moonlander had passed him in the hallway as she went to tell her uncle that dinner was ready (he wasn’t big on texting) when Harvey had decided to greet her via grabbing her from behind. She would have screamed but her mother and Uncle Donald, who appeared just as he did so, beat her to it. In less than a minute, both Duck twins were practically trying to tear Harvey to pieces as both Sabills and the mansion residents ran in to see what was going on. The moment that the patriarch of the manor heard his oldest adopted grandniece’s name and the word “grope” in the same sentence, he just about chased the whole family (excluding Jeremy who was not there, thankfully) off his property.

Who knew that the CEO of McDuck Enterprises had the strength to wield an iron club while jumping flights of stairs and chasing the Sabills all the way to the gates?

“What about her family?” Crescena asked after a moment.

“Still trying to track them down,” the older Latina duck sighed as she rubbed her forehead. “Those people are harder to catch than foxes. But at least foxes would never commit the kind of atrocities they have. Even so, no one deserves to go out so viciously.”

“That’s true,” the adopted McDuck charge nodded just as the head of one of the security guards poked in.

“Officer Cabrera?” the guard, who was a male dog anthro, inquired. “I believe that Mr. McDuck has arrived.”

“Alright, thank you,” Gloria nodded before heading towards the door while nodding to Crescena. “I’ll make this as quick as I can. Bye, for now.”

“Bye,” the blue-skinned woman replied before the doors shut and she was left alone in the quiet space.

However, it didn’t stay quiet as her phone rang a few minutes later, showing a familiar number which made her stomach twist in knots again as she answered it hearing Flurry’s voice, _“Hey kiddo.”_

“Hey Flurry,” Crescena replied with a casual and friendly tone, hoping she masked the worry trying to creep into her voice. “How is everything?”

_“Everything is fine,” _the female goshawk’s voice replied, though the redhead could paint an image of her biting her bottom beak. _“There’s a reason I called you. It’s about the Moonlanders. The people on top decided to allow them to come to Earth.”_

The blue-skinned young woman felt her mouth go dry and something akin to fear, guilt, and excitement bubble in her stomach as replied as calmly as she could, “Oh?”

_“Yeah. As you can imagine, the higher ups, NASA, big corporations, and even freaking Congress want to welcome our “Lunar Neighbors” to Earth to clear the air and show them that we also come in peace,” _the indominable agent sighed._ “Plus, finding out about all that gold has a lot of world leaders from the less well-off nations and countries looking to get a hold of some of that Moon moolah. And then there’s the tabloids that are either ranting on about government cover ups or end of the world garbage. So, my hands are tied.”_

“It’s fine. I understand,” the adopted McDuck charge insisted, even as her head and heart danced with some feeling she couldn’t quite place. “Is there anything else?”

_“Just one. It’s more of a personal question for you,” _Flurry replied carefully. _“Do you want me to make sure that the Moonlanders keep their distance? We can always ask them to come to St. Canard or Spoonerville. Maybe even Birbados or New Stork. But only if you want us too.”_

The redhead took in a sharp intake at the idea, not exactly hating the idea but her heart refused to let her mind work her mouth until she finally said, “Thank you, but that won’t be necessary.”

_“You sure? Because you might run into Penumbra again,” _the experience avian asked slowly.

“I’ll be fine. I’m not going to ask anyone to bend over backwards for me just so I can put off confronting the people partially responsible for my existence,” the Lapis-colored female insisted adamantly.

_“Alright, but just say the word and the ones who are giving you a hard time are as good as gone. No one messes with a granddaughter of one of S.H.U.S.H.’s former agents and richest former freelance operative and gets away with it,” _Flurry said firmly with a hint of fondness and compassion for the blue-skinned young woman. _“See you soon, Cress.”_

“You too,” Crescena replied back before the call ended.

**“That was very mature and brave of you, Crescena. You are putting your fears and doubts aside to welcome in new people,” **Tacca’s voice praised. **“Good for you.”**

“Thanks,” the Earth-raised Moonlander said with a small smile.

_Let’s just hope it does turn out to be good for me_, was her unspoken reply.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aphelion was the purple male one beside Libra who appeared to be booing in "Whatever Happened to Donald Duck?"

**Author's Note:**

> Yes, I did make Lunaris a good guy. Yes, I am including a crossover with the web comic, Don't Worry Teri Blokhin. And yes, I will continue with the Spider's Tangled Web this year. I regret nothing. I hope you all enjoy this.


End file.
